Say What?
by MentalKase
Summary: SasoDei. Roleplay between a friend and I. WILL everyone's .. well some people's, favourite Akatsuki members ever get together without something disasterous happening?
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: We own NOOOTHINNK.

And just so ya' know, my friend is the one playing Deidara, Tobi, Itachi and Kisame. I'm the one playing Sasori, Kakuzu, Hidan and Zetsu.

Double and; edited out the OOC chatter (I hope I got it all...). Fun. I'm too lazy to bold or otherwise distinguish who is who, look above and see who is playing who and use your head, foo' :D

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Deidara was wondering around the corridor in search of Sasori. It was quite a warm day, so he didn't feel the need to wear his cloak. This was something he'd proabably get into a bit of trouble for later. 'DEIDEI!' came a cry from behind him. Deidara froze, a chill running down his spine. He slowly turned around to see a man with very messy black hair. He cringed and started runnning down the corridor, away from Tobi. 'GO AWAY, SPAZZ!' he shouted, quickly turning a sharp corner and running straight into Sasori and falling onto the floor in a heap. 'Danna!' he wailed, clinging to his partner's arm. 'Make him go away, un.' 

Sasori stumbled a few steps back at the collision, but didn't fall. The puppet-man blinked slowly, frowning when Deidara clung to his arm - by the shouts he, and undoubtedly everyone else, had heard, the blonde must have been fleeing from that masked fool, Tobi.

But nonetheless, he felt the need to, one; try to push Deidara off of his arm without also pushing his out arm off, and two; question. Oh, and berate. "Watch where you're going... Idiot. Make who go away?"

Deidara looked up at Sasori sadly and pointed behind him. Tobi peeked his head around the corner and quickly scurried off, not wanting to get in a pissy puppet's way. The blond stood up, brushing himself down and then beaming. 'Where were you going?' he asked excitedly. 'And can I come?' It hadn't crossed his mind at all that Sasori didn't seem like he was in the mood to spend time with Deidara. He was just happy he'd managed to find him. Even if he had fallen over in the process.

So much for everlasting peace and quiet. He watched Tobi scurry away - at least one of the idiots had a brain - before returning his half-lidded gaze to Deidara.

Where was he going, huh? Hey, why not tell the truth. "I was looking for you." ... The iwhole/i truth, so the blond wouldn't get it in his head that the puppet wanted to be around him. "So then I would know where you are, and would therefore be able to avoid you." He paused, closing his eyes for a moment before turning to go. "And now I'm going to go outside. And no, you can't come."

Deidara beamed. Sasori was looking for him? Well that was first. But his smile was shortlived. He looked down sadly. 'Oh...' he mumbled, pouting. He really wanted to spend time with Sasori, but it didn't seem like he was going to be able to pursuade him to let him. He wrapped his arms aound his stomach tightly and turned to go back in the direction he had come from. 'Sorry I ran into you, Danna,' he said quietly.

Sasori's left eye twitched and he glanced over his shoulder to look back at Deidara. Damnit, the blond looked so... Pitiful. If he had had emotions, the puppet would have felt sorry for him. Although that was not the case... He frowned. He was iso/i going to regret this later. "Hnph... If you really want to come, Deidara, then do so. Just don't annoy the hell out of me." He shook his head and began away.

Deidara sniggered. Time to annoy him. 'No, coz I'm an idiot who'll annoy you, un,' he shot back. 'I wouldn't wanna bother you and your little peices of wood.' The pair usually got into arguments about their works of art. Although Deidara usually said he liked the puppets Sasori had created, this view was not returned. The taller artist was in a mood now. He didn't really want to spend time with his Danna anymore. Or so he acted that way.

That was true. Sasori almost grinned - ialmost/i. "Fine wi-" he stopped in mid-sentence. The blond didn't just go there... Unfourtunately, he did. "Little pieces of wood." The puppet repeated, freezing on the spot before slowly turning around to stare at Deidara. Sasori wasn't really up for an argument at the moment, truthfully. "Idiot. Go play with your clumps of dirt." A creepy smile alighted on the puppets face. "Or Tobi. Infact..." He cupped his chin with one hand. "Maybe I should ask Leader to put you and Tobi in the same room. Idiots belong together..." And they'd iboth/i be out of his way.

Deidara wrinkled his nose at the comment his partner had just made. 'Fuck off, pinocchio,' he muttered, storming off. 'See if I care,' he called from along the corridor. He went downstairs into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. He moved himself around so that his head was upside down. He groaned, agitatedly. He hated arguing with Sasori even though it was a regular occurance. He'd probably put a bomb in his bed later too. 'Clumps of dirt,' he muttered to himself, folding his arms. 'How dare he.'

... Pinocchio, now, was he? Sasori glared venemously at the general direction Deidara went off in before going the completely opposite way. It was only a matter of time before he snapped and made an attempt to turn the blond into a puppet, he knew it! Then again, he could always opt for the less permanent scare tactic of injecting a mostly harmless but still rather unpleasant poison into the dumbass while he slept... Pinocchio, indeed!

Hidan wandered into the living room just a minute after Deidara had entered. In one hand, he held his scythe. The other hand was busy smoothing his hair back. And, as they usually were after a ritual, his clothing was stained with blood. The Jashinist rose a brow when he noticed Deidara, and then he smirked. "If you sit like that too long, you're head will fucking explode, you know?"

Deidara shot a cold glance at Hidan. 'Thanks for the tip, un,' he muttered sarcastically, reaching for a cushion and shoving it under his head. 'Happy?' He stared at the television screen absently. Now who in their right mind would want a fishing programme on at this time of day? He lifted his arm to grab the remote, but it was just out of his reach. His eyes narrowed. Great, now he was just ready to snap and blow somethig up.

Hidan shrugged, giving a fake, disappointed frown. "No, I was hoping your head iwould/i explode. That would be fucking awesome!" The Jashinist chuckled, watching Deidara reach for the remote and fail. He wandered over and snatched the remote, inspecting it as if he hadn't ever seen such a thing before. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Lemme guess, it was that dumbass, Tobi? Or is it just PMS?"

Once outside, Sasori glared up at the sky. It was a relatively nice day, and quiet, too, aside from the chirping of a few birds. Why was he still so annoyed?

Deidara eventually gave in. His head was beginning to throb. He flipped himself up and sat up properly on the sofa. 'Piss off,' he snapped, folding his arms. 'Yeah it was Tobi. And that prick, Sasori.' He crawled over the sofa, closer to Hidan with his arm outstretched. 'Givvit,' he muttered, flailing his arm at the remote. 'I'm fed up with looking at fish, un.'

Hidan laughed, tossing the remote up and down. "So it iwas/i PMS, too." To clarify, he added, "iP/iuppet im/ian iS/iasori. You two argue like a fucking married couple," he muttered, tossing the remote at Deidara before looking towards the television. "Hey, that one looks like Kisame. I wonder if they're related..."

Deidara had pretty much had enough of this. He got up off the sofa, but had to sit down again, due to his head still feeling funny from haging upside down. He was going to his room and not coming out for a long time. But he'd come down for dinner, of course. 'Like a fucking married couple?' he asked himself, repeating the words Hidan had uttered. 'Yeah, if only.' As soon as he entered the bedroom he collapsed onto his bed, grabbing one of his pillows off the floor and shoving it over his face.

Hidan amusedly watched Deidara go before taking up the remote again and claiming the couch for himself. After a moment of flipping through the channels, he stopped on his favourite religious station.

Sasori grumbled obscenities to himself. Why had he wanted to go outside again, in the first place? He hadn't even left the front steps yet. Growling, he whirled around and headed back inside. Last he saw the blond, the fool went downstairs. Sasori headed for said stairs to go up them, assuming Deidara was still somewhere on the ground floor and that the room was empty.

Boy, was he wrong.

He entered the room silently, not bothering to look around until he had the door closed. When he noticed Deidara, his expression darkened considerably and he went to open the door to leave again.

When Deidara heard the door of the room open, he almost jumped. He wasn't expecting that. He took the pillow away from his face and sniffed. 'Danna?' he called quietly. 'I'm sorry...you're not anything like Pinocchio,' he mumbled. He sat up, hugging the pillow tightly, but he made no move to look at his partner. He didn't want to look at Sasori. He'd get more upset. So he decided to look at something much less upsetting. Yes...his feet. 'Forgive me?'

Oh, great. Sasori froze, hand on the door knob as he silently listened to Deidara's little apology. The puppet-man sighed irritably. It wouldn't be wise to look at the blond right now - he probably looked more pitiful than he did last time. Alas, he glanced over his shoulder, anyway, immediately regretting it.

Damnit. Stupid idiotic little... "Fine." And he wasn't really going to go request that Leader switched them around, but like hell he was going to say so. That would imply several things that Sasori could do without the blond thinking.

Deidara smiled a little. That was easy. He let go of the pillow, looking up at the red head innocently with his beautifully blue eye. He held his arms out in front of him. In otherwords saying, "Look how cute I am and come hug me, un." 'I'm really really sorry, Danna. Please dun switch partners, un.' It seemed his main concern was switching partners, but all he wanted was a cuddle from the puppet. 'Please?'

Sasori stared at the blond blankly before giving him a 'you've got to be kidding me' look when he held his arms out. Deidara wanted a hug? ... He was better off hugging Zetsu. "I won't," he muttered, frowning. Leader probably wouldn't allow him to go with anyone else, anyway.

The puppet-man twitched, staying as still as a statue near the door. He was determined to ignore the odd little voice in his head telling him to go over there and... Hug... Deidara. The little voice could shove it, for all he cared.

Deidara's arms dropped to his side and he drooped his head down sadly. He should've known he'd be rejected. His stomach was starting to feel funny again. It wasn't the first time he'd felt like this. He reached for the pillow and hugged that instead, staring at his feet again, twiching them a little out of nervousness. He thought it would be best to keep quiet, in case anything he said came out wrong and they ended up getting into yet another argument.

Sasori stared at the sad, oddly quiet Deidara. Eugh... What did he do, now? He just said he wasn't going to go ask Leader to switch him for someone else... Did the blond really want a hug ithat/i badly? His grip on the door knob tightened for a moment before he let go of it and started towards his own bed. He'd just ignore the idiot. Yes. He would inot/i give in and just go over and hug him, although it was quickly proving difficult to ignore that annoying little voice.

When that didn't work, Deidara got up and went over to his box at the end of the room. He started digging in it looking for some fresh clay. He wasn't prepared to stay in a room with this much tension. He'd probably go to the gym or something and let off some steam. Namely by breaking something. He wasn't in the mood to just wait for Sasori to do something. 'I'm going dwonstairs,' he announced, heading towards the door and politely waiting for his partner to move.

Watching the blond 'nin with an expression of mild boredom, Sasori rose a brow and paused, still pretty much infront of the door when Deidara headed over. The puppet-man shrugged and continued on his way over to his bed, where he sat down and watched his partner with a pretty much unreadable expression. The annoying little voice was istill/i saying he should go over there and hug the damnable blond, but it was quietening down. Finally.

And with that, the blond left the room and headed downstairs. Before entering the gym he slammed his head again the wall. Urgh, he hated the rejected feeling. But i truth Deidara and Sasori were like oil and water. They simply didn't mix. No matter how much they might want to. But it certainly didn't look like that though. He shook his head angrily and went into the gym. But sadly, he wasn't the only one in there now. Much to his annoyance. The older Uchiha brother was sitting in the shadows of the room, staring at a set point on the opposite wall, which was now steadily burning. Great, the Iwa thought to himself. Another moody one. Maybe if he didn't make too much noise he wouldn't get yelled at.

The puppet closed his eyes for a moment after the blond had left. Then he shook his head and stood up, slowly making his way over to his little 'work station' in the corner of the room and plopping back down, there. Sasori concluded that he needed to get Deidara off of his mind for a while - what better way was there to do so than to create things? Work on his puppets? Speaking of... A devious smile alighted on his face as he started to busy himself. Night-time was going to be amusing...

Sparring with Itachi had been quite a bad suggestion for Deidara. He had managed to dislocate his wrist. With no apology from the sharingan. At dinner, the blond was resisting the urge to smack Tobi, who wouldn't shut up about his bandaged up arm. 'You're really silly. Why did you think you stood a chance against Itachi?' he asked, giggling away. Deidara glanced at Tobi before slamming his mask down on the table. 'At least I put up more of a fight than you would, un,' he snapped, staring down at his food. He didn't feel particularly hungry at this moment in time. He really just wanted to go to bed and pray that tomorrow would go just a little bit better.

Being a puppet, made of wood, metal, and several other types of materials - for the most part - Sasori didn't need to eat or anything. So as usual, he skipped dinner. Hell, even if he had had a need for nourishment, he was too caught up in his art to care.

It was, as usual, perfect. His new creation was lithe, with the body of a female child. The wood was painted white, and he had used an old wig he had laying around for the hair. All he needed was a white dress... Or cloth, to try making one.

He frowned, brought out of his creative stupor by that little fact. There was no way in hell he was going to go around asking the other guys if they had or knew where to find a white dress, and he was sure he didn't have any white cloth...

Eugh... He'd have to go out.

Deidara was in the bathroom, and had been for the last few minutes. He was busy searching for some sort of dressing for his arm. The pain of which was getting unbearable. He reached into the medicine cupboard and took out a box containing some painkillers. His eyes clouded over when he looked into the it. Empty. Brilliant. He decided instead to run it under very cold water to numb the pain instead. At least until he found some sort of painkiller. He looked up at the clock on the wall and grinned. 'Movie time,' he beamed, scurrying out of the bathroom.

Sasori stood from his little corner-of-the-room workplace and left the room in a hurry. He'd have to be quick... Once glance at a window showed it was rather late. Therefore, if he wanted to succeed in what he was going to do...

The puppet paused several long strides out of the room, then quickly turned and headed back. Sure, Leader might get a little irked at it, but he didn't ineed/i his sheets. And they were iwhite/i. He'd buy new ones tomorrow.

And then he hastily set to work ripping the sheet off of his bed and sizing it up to his new toy.

Due to spending too much time in the bathroom, messing around with his damaged arm, all the seats in the living room were taken. Meaning Deidara would have to sit on the floor. Joy. Tobi was clutching a DVD tightly, giggling away. Why in the world he had chosen a horror to watch is beyond me. And probably to everyone else in the room. He had tried to get the DVD player to work, but this ended up with him getting pushed out of the way for Itachi to take over. He was far more electronically literate than his long lost cousin. Horror movies weren't exactly Deidara's number one choice, but he wasn't prepared to go back up to his room, especially if Sasori was still up there.

It took the puppet only a few minutes to get the make-shift dress ready and onto the... Other, non-living puppet. When he was finished, Sasori stood back and brought the puppet to 'life' via chakra strings, grinning triumphantly at another job well done. Now all he needed to do was...

Get down there, find a place to hide this thing, and then make it jump out at a convienient time.

After seconds of preparing himself for said tedious task, Sasori crept downstairs, his new abiotic companion sneaking along behind him.

Meanwhile, down in the movie room, Hidan was busy nearly driving Kakuzu into a near homicidal rage, waiting for the movie to start. Obviously, Kakuzu was trying inot/i to decapitate and duct tape the Jashinist's mouth shut before sticking it in the freezer for the length of the film.

Zetsu, however, was sitting quietly, staring off into space while both his halves mumbled in conversation with each other. Something about being hungry and that Tobi was a good boy, but not a tastey little snack.

Once Itachi had managed to get the DVD to play he sat back down on his seat. He had threatened Deidara if he stole it he'd send him to Tsukyumi. Something he had heard about from Tobi. He didn't really want to be beaten up for three days straight, so he stayed put on the floor. Tobi had also been warned by Itachi that if he talked too much he'd be sent to bed. And Tobi, being the good boy he is, remained silent. He tended to do whatever his younger cousin told him, seeing as he didn't want to suffer the same bloody end as past Uchihas.

Eventually, Sasori just stashed his new toy a few steps down from the door to the basement before joining the rest of the guys in the living room. In which he snuck in and made a claim near the corner at the back of the room; he'd be unnoticed, unbothered, and he'd be able to wait for the iperfect/i time to strike in peace.

He wasn't all that gung-ho about watching the movie, anyway.

Hidan had, once the DVD started, stopped bugging poor, irritated Kakuzu. Kakuzu of who was still trying to restrain himself from dismembering the Jashinist, promising himself that he would do so first chance he got to drag the white-haired moron out into the kitchen.

And Zetsu had stopped his quasi-internal monologue, now staring at the television screen and carrying on the 'conversation' internally.

The film was starting to bore Deidara. His eyes slowly beginning to droop. But Tobi flicking his fringe woke him up. The blond's eyes narrowed as he pushed the older Uchiha away from him. 'Move and I'll kill you,' he whispered dangerously. He looked back over at the screen, boredly. He'd much rather be curled up in bed. But getting up and leaving would disturb everyone else in the room. And result in him being told off in some way or form. Itachi glared at the bickering pair, his black eyes, swirling to red as a warning. He then turned back to the screen.

Half-lidded red eyes stared blankly up at the cieling. Sasori had resigned himself to just listening to the audio rather than watching the movie. Though he did look over in time to see the masked fool do something to earn himself a push away from Deidara. The puppet's brows rose slightly before he returned them to the cieling. Slowly but surely, he brought his new toy out from it's hiding place in the basement and cautiously lead it towards the living room. He wanted to get it up on the... Cieling... First, before he did anything. Maybe he'd make it drop down on someone when the movie was over... Decisions, decisions!

Hidan was lounging comfortably back in his seat, eyes on the screen and - much to his partner's annoyance - an arm around Kakuzu's shoulders.

Zetsu was probably on par with the Uchiha when it came to silence. The plant of a man was staring unblinkingly at the television screen, as if it were the only other thing in the room.

Not particularly wanting to get killed by a girl coming out of the television a week later, the Iaw missing nin was discreetly covering his eyes whenever the "cursed video" was shown on the screen. Sure, it was only a made up story, but he wasn't taking any chances. Tobi was sniggering at Deidara's childishness. 'You wimp,' he whispered to him. He said that, even though he probably wouldn't have a decent night's sleep for weeks after. The blond looked across the room to see his partner. When had he come in? He thought about going over to sit next to him, but he looked far to interested in the ceiling.

Almost. There. The non-living puppet was almost the the door way, assuming he judged the distance right. And he had ipractice/i - only what, fifty years' worth? Of course he judged it correctly. Then, fingers twitching - obscured by his cloak, of course - Sasori made the puppet start it's careful climb up the wall. He cast a casual glance over at the television and those infront of it, raising a brow when he noticed the blond looking over at him. Damnit, if he noticed the Ring-girl puppet, the plan would be ruined! ... Maybe...

Hidan had, seconds ago, fallen asleep - leaning against an irate Kakuzu as if the guy was a body pillow, no less. The greedy man's patience was only lasting for yelling at-slash-killing his idiot partner would disrupt the movie, and... He didn't really want to do that.

But a certain white-haired Jashinist was inot/i getting any(more) sleep that night.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Obvious.

Her- Dei, Tobi, Itachi, Kisame

Me- Sas, Hidan, Kakuzu, Zet

I hope I got all the OOC chatter this time, too...

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Tobi noticed the movement up the wall and his eyes widened. What was that? Samara? On the wall? He shuffled over to Deidara, tugging his sleeve. 'Deidei...the girl from the telly's on the wall,' he whispered, pointing. Deidara looked up at the gawmless idiot, obviously not amused. He couldn't pull his sleeve away, seeing as it would hurt his damaged arm. So, instead he followed where Tobi's arm was pointing and went pale. '...Shit,' he whispered. The "idiot" was actually right. For once. Uchiha shoved his head into Deidara's chest. 'DUN LET HER KILL ME!' he wailed, fantically.

Sasori twitched just slightly, the 'girl' never pausing along her journey up the wall. Stupid Tobi... The living puppet frowned at the fool's little outburst before a fairly... Evil... Plan came to mind.

The 'girl' ceased moving, pushing itself off from the wall, landing silently and standing in place before turning around slowly, hair obscuring it's face. The face would give away the fact that it was naught but a puppet. It lifted it's arm slowly to point at Deidara and Tobi before it's head tilted unnaturally to one side.

All the while, Sasori pretended not to notice.

Abruptly and rudely wakened by the wailing, Hidan frowned and narrowed his eyes, glaring at Tobi. Kakuzu, however, was the one who spoke for the duo. "Would you kindly SHUT THE FUCK UP?!" The hot-headed Akatsuki 'banker' of sorts didn't know who he wanted to kill the most, then and there. His idiot partner, or that masked freak...

Zetsu furrowed his brow at Tobi's little outburst, his light half speaking up. "Tobi, be a good boy and quiet down. It's only a movie."

Obviously, neither of the three had noticed the Ring-puppet, taking Tobi's wailing cry of 'dun let her kill me!' and Deidara's pale stare at where-ever as dilusions and idiocy or just the result of being freaked out by the movie.

Making a tiny whimpering noise, Deidara pushed Tobi off him and went to hide behind Itachi's seat. He gripped onto the Uchiha's sleeve tightly, shaking, not moving his eyes from the puppet. Itachi looked down at Deidara as he grabbed his sleeve and followed his line of vision over to the puppet. He let a snigger pass his lips, knowing someone was simply playing a joke and looked back over at the screen. And by this time, Tobi had scurried over to Zetsu as a sanctuary. He knew he wouldn't let the puppet hurt him. Scrap that. He hoped he wouldn't let the puppet hurt him.

The venus man-trap of a ... Man, rose a brow at Tobi before he glanced over to the distrubance-causing puppet, sighed quietly. Then he turned his attention back to the television, decidedly ignoring all else.

Hidan, of course, curious as to what the heck got the two so spooked. So, he followed their line of vision, gaping at the puppet... Thing, like a deer caught in the headlights. He hadn't really been paying attention to the movie, but he did get to see that television chick before he nodded off.

Being none the wiser, the Jashinist muttered a prayer to Jashin, one hand going for the triangle-in-a-circle symbol on his rosary, the other hand seeking out Kakuzu's closest hand.

Needless so say he received a hard hit upside the head when he finally found said hand. The greedy man obviously wasn't falling for the little display.

Off in the corner, watching everything unfold, Sasori was smirking. The plan hadn't been too botched, after all. Three out of six of them had fallen for it!

He made the Ring-puppet move forward, trying to make it seem like it was corpse-like and dead. It moved towards Tobi first, before it switched paths and started for Deidara.

The blond ihad/i wanted a hug earlier, right?

Tobi was too scared to move from his current spot next ot Zetsu's seat. Though he sighed with relief when the puppet girl changed her path. Deidara scrambled to his feet and started digging into his pocket for some sort of explosive. There was a slight trace left. Not enough to cause a huge explosion, but enough to warn the Ring puppet that he wasn't prepared to die, just yet. He took it out, not bothering to mold it and flung it at the creature. Itachi looked up at the blond, unamused. 'You blow that thing up and I'll kill you,' he said firmly. Deidara simply went over to the door and switched on the big light. 'Who's twisted?' he asked, folding his arms.

Zetsu blinked when the light came on, glancing to Tobi before looking towards the one who turned it on. Although part of him wanted to answer the question - since, he ate people, and was quite twisted in his own right - another part of him knew that that wasn't exactly what the question was asking. Thus, the plant of a man stayed silent.

The Jashinist was, at the moment, being hit multiple times in the head by Kakuzu, who found it quite stress relieving.

Meanwhile, while Sasori was quite the guilty party, he didn't say anything, looking over at the light-switching blond rather innocently.

However, in some sort of silent answer, he made the Ring-puppet dart forward towards Deidara, arms open to try catching him in a hug.

The puppet seemed a lot less scary in the light. Even Tobi was interested in who had played the sick sick prank. But he still remained hidden by Zetsu's seat. As soon as the puppet ran at Deidara, he also ran at it, kicking it against the wall oposite. The noise it made was a surprise, though. A "clunk." 'Wood?' the blond asked, his eyes meeting with Sasori's. Itachi let out a little applause for the puppeteer. 'Deidara, you ruined his puppet,' he sniggered, accusingly. The blond ninja, looked to the floor, shuffling his feet a little. 'Sorry, Danna,' he mumbled, flicking the light off again.

Plant-man gave a half-smirk at the scene that played out before turning his attention to Tobi, and then to the television. He was silently thanking whatever gods were listening that Tobi was a good boy that wouldn't pull such pranks. Then again, part of him doubted the 'good boy' would be iable/i to pull anything off without it blowing up in his face. Literally and-or figuratively.

Luckily for the blond, Sasori hadn't expected that puppet to make it through the night, anyway. It had only taken him what - a day to make? Plus, it wouldn't have been useful for anything but performance and scaring the living hell out of people. But, after Deidara flicked the lights off again, he feigned mild anger and crossed his arms, tone taking on a highly irritated quality. "Deidara. I want to see you later, after the movie."

Kakuzu had paused in beating Hidan over the head. A moment in which the Jashinist took to looked over in the general direction of the blond - the room was spinning... "Looks like you're in deep shit, blondie!"

The greedy man beside him coughed and elbowed the immortal in the side a little itoo/i sharply. "He's not the only one, dumbass!"

A little later, Deidara was sitting on his bed, his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. He was actually quite worried about what Puppet Master Sasori was going to talk to him about. And judging by his tone of voice, he didn't seem overly happy about it being kicked into the wall. He had to agree with Hidan though. He would probably bee in very deep shit. He spat the contents of his mouth into the cup of water he had left on his bed-side table and started to re-dress his arm. He had got himself kicked out of the bathroom by the vain Itachi. Three minutes was far too long for the stone ninja to be in there for. Just before he was dragged out by his ponytail, he had luckily managed to grab some new bandages. Once finished, he quickly left the room with his cup and toothbrush to return it back to the bathroom.

Minutes before the movie had ended, Sasori had quietly gathered up his little broken toy and left the room to go to the basement. In which he set the non-living puppet up to look like a dead person, laying on the floor in a pool of red paint and a kunai sticking out of it's back.

And then he left it there for whoever the hell next went to the basement to find. Now, he was heading up to his and Deidara's room for that little 'talk' he was going to give the blond. He smirked when he passed by the room shared by Hidan and Kakuzu - he could hear something rolling. Probably heads. Or ia/i head.

He passed by Deidara while the blond was on the way to the bathroom, but said nothing and pretty much ignored the explosive artist for the moment.

Much to his relief, Itachi had abandoned the bathroom, so Deidara saw his chance and barged in there, claiming it for himself. He took quite a lot of time in there, considering he didn't really want to hear his little lecture from his partner, so stalling was really his best option. But in the end, he left the bathroom and headed back to his room, knowing the puppet was in there waiting for him. He opened the door, his eyes on the ground and entered the bedroom. 'I already said I'm sorry, so why do you need to talk to me, un?' he mumbled, sadly.

The blond had sure taken his sweet old time. Sasori glanced over to the door from his perch on his bed when Deidara entered, putting on a stern expression. Though, truthfully, due to earlier, he was in an oddly good mood.

The puppet crossed his arms over his chest, closing his eyes as if exhasperated. "Because. Come over here, you idiot." He kept his tone even and monotonous, opening one eye to watch the blond impatiently.

Deidara now had two choices. He could, one, grab his pillow and sleep on the sofa that night, or two...probably get what was coming to him for a long long time. But he knew it would come back around if he tried to escape now. He stayed put for a few seconds, contemplating what he should do next, before walking forward towards Sasori. The tone of voice the puppet hinted that the longer it took, the longer his "talk" would be.

Standing once he deemed Deidara near enough, Sasori stared expressionlessly at the blond for a moment before frowning. He went to the door, closing it and locking it before he turned to face his partner again. "Now, Deidara. You know how I feel about my puppets, don't you?" He started back towards the blond, joints making almost threatening cracking noises with every other step.

At that moment, Deidara really wished he had taken his pillow ans slept downstairs. But sadly it wasn't the case in this scenario. The blond looked at his partner, backing away a little. 'I wouldn't've broken it if I didn't think it was gunna kill me, un!' he blurted out. 'It was...self defense...that's it.' He was starting to get worried that Sasori would add him to his very large collection of human puppets. He didn't exactly want that to be his way to go, either. He could've made a break for the door, but sadly it was locked now. And he didn't really want to jump out the window to escape either. Basically, he was trapped.

The red-head was cackling iglee/ifully - on the inside, anyway. On the outside, he continued his angry little charade. He took one more step towards the blond before he stopped, eyes never leaving Deidara's. Almost as if he was able to hear his partner's worries, he smirked cruelly. He enjoyed making the blond nervous. "I'm going to need a... iReplacement/i."

And despite what it sounded like, he didn't mean the Ring-puppet from earlier. Not that ithat/i was clear. But hey, he had a chance to scare the sculptor for the second time that night. He was inot/i passing it up.

Deidara's blue eyes widened in fear. He was going to kill him and add him to his collection. He carried on walking backwards until he felt the cold wall against his back. Crap. Now he couldn't go anywhere. So, what did he do? Yes, he moved into the corner and sat down, his shaking arms outstreched as protection. 'Stoppit, Danna,' he wailed. 'I'm not ready to go yet. I dun wanna, un!' He couldn't really be in a more fucked position. His bombs were at the other end of the room, so he had no means of defense by using his usual weapons.

Oh, how he iloved/i to see his partner squirm. Or, at least, it was as close to love as a supposedly emotionless puppet could get. Sasori moved until he was just about half a dozen inches infront of the blond, and then he crouched. Heh, Deidara actually thought he was going to kill him? Sure, he'd thought about it. Often during or after their arguments. But then he'd probably get stuck with Tobi - among other... iThings/i that kept him from acting on several of his thoughts.

"Hn... Of course not. That's why we're going tomorrow," the puppet pointed out, tone and expression rather blank, if not casual, or even bored. As if nothing had been going on just seconds ago. "Leader-sama will be awfully pissed off if he finds out I mangled one of the sheets."

Deidara carried on couring until Sasori had finished his little speech. He put his arms down a little. He still wasn't sure if the puppet had been lying the whole time, but he was prepared to let his guard down just a bit. 'Going?' he asked, blinking. Had he let something slip from his mind? Something he was meant to remember? Maybe asking wasn't really a wise move. A move that would probably end up with his life being threatened once again. He would've tried to move from his little corner, if only the puppet wasn't blocking his way.

The puppet cocked his head to the side before giving a little shrug. "Yes. Going." He paused, then he remembered that the blond probably didn't have much of an idea of what he was talking about. Sasori stood, taking a small step back before turning and wandering off towards his little workstation in the other corner of the room. "I used one of the sheets off of my bed for the dress on that puppet. I need to go to the village tomorrow to buy a new one." He settled himself down for a night of tinkering with his creations, casting a brief glance back at Deidara over his shoulder. "You can come if you want. Whatever."

The blond artist warily stood up, nodding. 'I'll come, un. I could keep you company,' he grinned, going over to his bed. Whew, panic over. He just hoped Sasori wasn't planning on slaughtering him in his sleep during the night. He snuggled under the covers, leaving the bed-side light, seeing as the puppet would want some form of luminence to help him see his works. It wasn't as if the blond's sleep would be disturbed by the light. He could easily just hide himself under the covers. After a couple of minutes of trying to get to sleep, and failing miserably, the artist poked his head over the covers. 'Danna? I'm scared,' he mumbled quietly. Though he didn't expect much sympathy from his partner. He thought he'd just announce it.

The usual creepy, contented smile alighted on the red-head's lips as he began to start on a new puppet. His time would probably be better spent making improvements on the ones he currently had stashed away - like Hiruko - but... He had all the time in the world for them. Literally. Why not create something new, and iuseful/i this time?

Sasori was unadmittedly thankful that Deidara left the light on - though he was used to working in the dark, the light enabled him to work more accurately.

Though he frowned and sighed irritably at his partner's little announcement. What was there to be scared of? He wasn't alone or anything. Then again, the puppet mused, that could be the problem... "Hmph. Scared of what, exactly?," he inquired, not looking up from his work.

A small red blush appeared on Deidara's face. He looked down a little embarrassed. 'The ring girl,' he mumbled, hiding his face under the blanket again. He wasn't really expecting some sort of comforting reply from his partner. He just hoped for one. Actually, the thing that had scared him the most was Sasori's practical joke. But the film was pretty close behind. 'She's not gunna come kill me, right?' came his quiet voice from underneath the covers.

Sasori paused for a moment, blinking slowly. He was scared of that foolish Ring movie? "Don't be stupid, Deidara." The puppet resumed his work, pretty much just shaping the torso of his newest little toy. 'Hmm'ing quietly, he reached for a small sheet of sandpaper. "It takes iseven/i days, doesn't it?" He snickered quietly. "You don't have to worry until a week from now."

Well, that certainly didn't help. The sculptor let out a little wailing noise. Then something occured to him. 'Wait...we all watched it. That means we're all gunna die, un!' He hugged himself tightly, whining uneasily. 'Why did Tobi have to choose such a horrible movie?' Yes, if he was still alive by morning, he'd probably tell Tobi off. And steal his shoes as punishment.

It was almost unbelievable just how childish his partner could get. But, the puppet could only smile. This meant that in a week, he could scare the hell out of the blond... Again. Unless someone gave him the 'it was only a fucking movie you stupid idiot, now shut up' talk. He began sanding down some of the rough patches on the wood he was working with slowly. "... Go to sleep."

Not wanted to have another "talk", Deidara obeyed the puppet and attempted to get to sleep. The sounds of him working were somewhat calming him down. Even though everytime he closed his eyes he saw the little girl with long black hair and a white dress. So instead of trying to get to sleep, he used the old method of counting sheep. Within ten minutes of counting, the clay molding ninja was fast asleep.

The puppet continued to work carefully, half-lidded eyes making sure he missed nothing, no little detail at all. He only paused a while later to listen to Deidara's breathing; the slow, even breathing of sleep. Good, good. He once again went back to what he had been doing just seconds ago - the same thing he'd be doing all throughout that night 'til morning.

The blond had managed to kick half the blanket off himself and was now hugging it tightly. He had a habit of doing that in his sleep, usually causing him to wake up in the middle of the night feeling very cold. He wasn't a very tidy sleeper. 'Nnh…' he whimpered into the fabric, the sound quite muffled. 'Danna...' The name he called his partner was slurred, he was still asleep. He didn't usually talk in his sleep. It was normally just little whimpering noises..

His concentration had been fully on the creation of his new puppet until his ears picked up the muffled mumbling coming from his sleeping partner. Odd, he was sleep-talking... Sasori frowned and glanced over his shoulder to confirm that the blond was actually asleep before gently putting his tools down. He stood - slowly, so that his joints didn't crackle loudly and wake the sleeper up. Then he carefully made his way over to the foot of the bed, looking over the sculptor before raising a brow, curious as to whether or not he was going to say anything else. As well as to why - or so it sounded like - the blond had mumbled his name. Or at least the name he usually used.

The blond had now flopped over onto his front, the teeth of his good hand holding onto the blanket, preventing it from falling onto the floor. His ingured arm was hanging limply off the side of the bed. Once again, the puppet master's name escaped from the bomber's mouth. This was then followed by another little whimper. He moved his good arm to hold tightly onto the injury, causing the blanket to crumple onto the floor in heap, joining one of his pillows he had also managed to discard.

"Hnn." Deidara really needed to be strapped down at nights. He moved around too much. Sasori tilted his head to one side slightly when he heard his name again, briefly wondering what the blond was dreaming about. He watched as the blanket joined one of the pillows on the floor before stepping around the bed and over to them. He reached down, picking the blanket up and glancing over at his partner. Huh, he hadn't noticed the injured arm before... Probably because he was too occupied with other things.

Eh, he'd ask in the morning. Or whenever the blond woke up. 'Till then... The puppet carefully began putting the blanket back on the bed and over the blond, hoping the action wouldn't end up waking him up. He didn't need him catching a cold, after all.

A little grin spread across the blond's lips when the blanket was placed back over his body and the warmth came back. He turned onto his side, still clutching his sore arm. After a few more whimpers passed the artist's mouth, he remained silent. Minus the sound of his breathing. 'You dun love me more,' he mumbled quietly, the little grin appearing on his face again. And once again, he started hugging the blanket tightly.

Good, he didn't accidentally wake the blond up. The red-head nudged the pillow with his foot and shrugged a bit before turning to head back to his little workstation. But before he got anywhere, he heard Deidara mumble something else and froze, peering over his shoulder. 'You dun love me more'? What the heck was that supposed to mean...? He furrowed his brow, thouroughly puzzled. Then he briefly thought about trying to influence his partner's dreams in order to get him to explain - but thought better of it and started back to his little corner of the room. It would be hard to come up with an excuse if he was caught manipulating the blond like that.

The next morning, Deidara woke up at the usual time of seven. Why seven? That was time that Itachi had exited the bathroom, leaving it unclaimed. This was also the time when no one else had raided the kitchen for breakfast. He had previously suggested to Sir Leader for there to be a chart showing who could use the bathroom at which time. But that failed. After having a quick shower, re-dressing his arm, fixing his hair and re-applying his nail polish, he left the bathroom and headed downstairs. After much thinking, he decided leftovers from last night's dinner was the best option seeing as it would be quite a challenge to make his breakfast using only one hand. Yummy.

Around an hour before Deidara had woken up, Sasori had left his little workstation to wonder around and clear his mind. Which, effectively, ended up with the puppet sitting in the living room with an anatomy book in hand. He hadn't a clue where it came from - it had just been left on the floor near the couch. So, without little else to do, he had decided to flip through it.

And now he was reading through a chapter on the human nervous system. He knew most, if not everything to do with the human body, but it didn't hurt to brush up on such things sometimes. It kept the knowledge fresh in his mind and lessened his chances of forgetting something useful.

After finishing his "breakfast" Deidara headed into the living room. Hoping no one else was in there. Mainly because he didn't want to fight for the remote like many times before. Oh? Sasori had already beaten him there. But luckily he wasn't watching the television. He rested his chin on the sofa behind Sasori's head. He knew the puppet had probably already sensed his presence, but he'd try to make him jump. He held the puppet at the back of the neck. He thought he'd show his partner his own knowledge of the human body. 'If you were human and I were to send enough chakra to my hand, you'd be dead straight away, un,' he giggled. 'But you aren't anymore. So you're safe.'

The puppet had, indeed, sensed the blond's presence once he had stepped into the room, but didn't acknowledge it. Until, of course, he noticed the hand at the back of his neck. It didn't make the red-head jump, exactly, though he noticably twitched.

"Hence why I'm not particularly worried," he muttered distractedly, not looking up from the book and simply turning the page to a diagram of the human body showing different pressure points and what they do when jabbed or influenced by an influx of chakra. He snorted, smirking slightly. "You're not as stupid as I thought you were." A second later, he added, "If you're still coming, we should leave for the village at noon."

The blond, moved around the sofa to sit next to his partner and folded his arms. 'I'm not stupid...I'm...uhm,' Deidara replied. He hadn't really thought through his little comeback very well had he? He carried on looking up at the ceiling, searching for the right word to use. A dictionary would be a good idea. He looked over at the puppet and grinned. 'Okay, un!' he giggled, hugging him and quickly jumping off the sofa in case the red head decided to punch him. Before leaving the room, he turned to look at his partner again. 'I got my hug, un!' he called, before disappearing and running upstairs.

Due to the pitiful comeback, Sasori decided... He was iso/i going to have to force the blond to read more. Maybe when they were in the village he could pick up a few books and threaten Deidara with nonfatal but still painful poison unless he read them. Mm... There was a plan... And then his thoughts were interrupted.

If the puppet was still organic, his muscles would have tensed and he probably would have blushed at the quick hug administered by his partner. But, since he wasn't, he simply flinched and growled, but the blond was gone before he could get up, do or say anything snappy. What did he have for breakfast - pure friggin' sugar? And the red head didn't get to inquire about that arm, either. He put the anatomy book back down where he had originally found it - oddly enough, it didn't interest him much anymore.

Back up in the room, Deidara was easing on his cloak. He glanced out the window. Rain. Brilliant. He sighed, going over to his "box of tricks" as it were and took out some clay. He set himself on the floor in front of his bed and began moulding away. And with only one hand, it felt pretty strange. The floor in front of his bed seemed to be his only work space. He was tempted to use Sasori's, but it would only get all sticky from the clay. So, in a sense, the floor was a much better option. He smiled to himself, remembering that he had managed to hug Sasori without being told off. And he felt so proud of himself for doing so.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: ... See the last few chapters for this and who we're playing. I'm tired of putting 'disclaimer' at the top of every... Eugh, two or three times should be enough!

---

Letting out a disgruntled sigh, the puppet glared at the blank television screen before closing his eyes for a moment. Perhaps he should go get ready to go early - it might be something to do. And then he could finally inquire as to what happened to the blond's arm. Assuming said blond had gone upstairs and to their room, anyway...

Mhm. Sasori stood, joints popping as he headed for the stairs, passing a grumbling and apparently freshly stitched-up Hidan. No need to guess what happened to him last night...

The red-head chuckled once the white-haired immortal was out of earshot, starting up the stairs and then finally heading towards their room. Perhaps he should also warn Deidara to stay away from the basement for a while, too, lest he stumble upon the morbid little display.

By now, Tobi was busy bugging the sculptor. With phrases such as, 'Can I have a go, please?' and 'Is that all you do all day?' and 'It looks boring.' Deidara was, by now almost at the end of his fuse with the masked idiot. And his fuse burnt the fastest when he was around Tobi. But a little smirk appeared on his face. Maybe he could make it work to his advantage. Reluctantly, he handed Tobi some clay and made him go sit at the other end of the room. After a couple of seconds, Deidara lifted his bad arm up to his face. 'Art is a bang,' he sniggered. And that's how the masked idiot ran out of the bedroom, screaming 'MY HAND BLEW UP!' I mean, if the guy had survived being crushed by a boulder, then losing use of his hand for a couple of days wouldn't be anything too big.

He was a few meters from the door, musing on thoughts of what else to do, other than buy a replacement sheet and several books, once they got to the village. Of course, he had no clue - at the moment - that it was raining.

And then the puppeteer froze in mid-step, surprised by the masked fool's sudden retreat from his and the blond's room. He was especially surprised by his words - his hand blew up? What the--- oh. He turned his head to watch the idiot until he was out of sight before he closed the gap between himself and the door, entering the room.

Sasori smiled eerily at Deidara before he made his way over to the closet, where he kept Hiruko. "You shouldn't do that, Deidara. Next time you might make him even more stupid." ... If such a thing were even possible.

The blond folded his arms and pouted. 'He got what was coming to him, un,' he replied, shortly. He looked up at the puppet and grinned. 'He was the one who chose the film, ruining my sleep last night. So, for ruining my sleep, I ruined his hand.' He put the clay down and watched his partner at the closet. 'You don't need to wear that thing. It's not as if someone's gunna burn you in the village today,' he muttered, absently.

Tobi had scurried back to his own room after much panicking and running around. 'ZETSU-SAAAAAAAN! DEIDEI BLEW MY HAND UP!' he wailed, upon entering his bedroom.His hand had taken up a blackish colour, some of the skin flacking off, but it hadn't actually fallen off. Yet.

True. True. Though he only shrugged in response. The red head, via chakra strings, walked his favourite puppet out of the closet before looking over his shoulder at the blond. "Next time, aim for his head. Or at least his mouth." Tobi probably woke anyone that was still sleeping up when he fled the room screaming. And even if he didn't, he was obnoxiously loud, either way.

"Hn?" Sasori rose a brow at Deidara's last comment, then glanced out the window. Ah. "Hiruko keeps the rain out." Even though rain was a literal bitch on some of the joints. Especially the tail. He frowned. "Maybe we should wait until tomorrow to go."

The canniballistic plant lovably known as Zetsu inevitably heard the masked fool's wailing. Considering he was standing by the window of their room, staring out at the rain. He ihad/i been relaxing...

Tch. He turned to look at Tobi, his eyes widening a fraction when he noticed what he was saying was true. "Calm down, Tobi. Why did he do that?," his light half inquired. His dark half seemed about to make some sort of a 'you deserved it, I bet' type of comment, but a second's worth of internal scolding from his other personality stopped it from doing so.

Deidara began to concentrate on his work. 'Or, at least when it stops,' he added. Any excuse not to wear his hat, which he felt a little stupid wearing during missions. Thank goodness it was only an optional part of the Akatsuki uniform. But sadly, it didn't seem like the rain was going to stop any time soon. He sniggered to himself. Maybe he could put some clay in Tobi's lunch as a second attack.

Tobi cradled his burnt hand, tears running down his ceeks. 'I wanted to have a go with his clay, so he gave me some and blew my hand up,' he wailed. Obviously, it hadn't occured to the mask that Deidara still was upset about the movie. Plus, Deidara would always be the one Tobi would go talk to (Annoy) if he had any free time. 'It was mean of him,' he finished. The younger Uchiha was leaning on the doorframe, his arms folded. 'Zetsu. Please can you control that kid,' he muttered shortly. 'Gag him or something. Anything to keep his annoying voice from entering my ears.' 'ITACHI-NII-SAAAAN! LOOK WHAT DEIDEI DID TO ME!' Tobi cried, running over to Itachi showing him his hand. The younger's expression failed to show any sympathy for his relative's hand. 'As long as it keeps you quiet, I really don't give a shit,' he sighed.

A nod. The puppet looked back down at Hiruko, thinking for a moment. Neh, now that he had it out, he might as well make sure everything was in working order... And... Oh, right. "Deidara, what happened to your arm?" He asked tonelessly, while walking the non-living puppet over to his little corner-bound workstation. Hm, too bad the Akatsuki never invested in umbrellas... Sasori smirked. He icould/i try to make a few.

Zetsu listened to Tobi's explaination unblinkingly, frowning. "Yeah. It was," his light half agreed. He'd have to talk to the blond later. And then he'd have to keep an eye on the masked man, to make sure he kept out of trouble. Speaking of trouble...

The plant sighed agitatedly and shifted his gaze to the door, and effectively, the younger Uchiha. He found it odd, sometimes - the older one acted like a kid, while the younger one acted more mature. 'More mature' being an understatement. Then again, given past circumstances... He winced when the masked Uchiha's voice rose again, and said nothing for a moment before his frown deepened. "We don't have anything to gag him with," his dark half commented, before his lighter half spoke up again. "Tobi, stop being so loud. Come over here. We'll bandage your hand up."

The blond paused in his work. Was Sasori…worried about him? He looked up at his partner and then at his bandaged up arm. 'I sparred with Itachi yesterday,' he muttered, pouting a little. 'And then he dislocated my wrist, so I can't use it.' He tried flexing it, which was quite a silly thing to do as it sent a throbbing pain up his arm. He winced slightly, scrunching up his eyes. 'He didn't even say sorry,' he mumbled sadly. But expecting an apology from the cold Uchiha was just as stupid as suggesting to spar with him.

The same Uchiha grumbled and left the room to go find some sort of device or piece of material he could use to gag Tobi with. Tobi himself, obeyed Zetsu, going back over to him to get his arm tended to. He just hoped the plant's dark side wouldn't attempt to rip it off and eat it. It was charred enough to make a decent meal, though.

Sasori rose a brow, settling down in his little corner of the room and carefully picking up Hiruko's tail so that he could test and check each of the joints. "How foolish." Why in the world would someone try to spar with Itachi? Or at least someone like Deidara. Kakuzu would probably be a good match for the young Uchiha... "Of course he didn't. Hn..." The puppet shook his head several times, carefully adjusting one point in the tail that looked a little off. "Did you bother to reset your wrist before you bandaged it?" Kami, he felt like the blond's friggin' mother right then.

Zetsu watched Tobi walk back over, then turned and headed towards the bathroom. That's where most of the medical stuff was. Plus he needed to stall for a moment, for indeed... His dark half was tempted to make a feast out of the older Uchiha then and there. Or at least the 'cooked' part of him. Thankfully - or, unfourtunately, depending on how one looked at it - the cannibal had good control over his dark side.

Oh, so he had no sympathy? But why would Deidara even expect any sympathy from his partner? He looked down at his model again and carried on moulding it. Though he didn't reply the puppet, seeing as it would probably result in yet another argument. Yeah, it was pretty stupid to spar with Itachi, though he was just curious about how strong he really was. He got his answer. He looked up at the puppet, as if he'd just turned himself inside out and was singing the titanic song at the top of his voice. 'Re...set?' he repeated the red head's words. In other words, his answer was no.

The red head continued the process of inspecting Hiruko's tail, fixing or adjusting a joint here-and-there. And he hadn't even worn it in the past day or two... He 'hmph'ed. Whatever, he'd just blame it on Tobi.

He didn't seem miffed at the lack of a reply from his blond partner, as for a moment, he was too into what he was doing. Or he had been too into what he was doing. He looked up and glanced over his shoulder at the blond's repeat of the word 'reset'. Sasori rose a brow. Well... That was an interesting expression Deidara had on his face. "Yes, idiot. Reset. Usually when something has been dislocated, it's best to push it back to it's proper spot so that it can heal properly..." He sighed. At least, that was the case for dislocated shoulders.

The blond listening intently to the puppet and stared down at his arm. He tried twisting it, shaking it and flexing it, but nothing seemed to make it "reset." Was he meant to know if it resetted? He knew it hurt like hell if he tried to move it. He hadn't got anything dislocated before, so he wasn't really sure what to do. Sure, he'd managed to break a few bones before, but that didn't really help. 'Danna?' he called quietly. 'I dunno how to do it, un.' He started thinking up people who might be able to help him fix it if Sasori refused to help. Itachi maybe...as a way of saying sorry. Though knowing him, he'd probably yank the whole arm off.

Turning back to Hiruko, the puppet laid the tail down carefully, as if it were the most precious thing in the world. Funny how something made for combat could be so delicate... He rolled his eyes at his partner's words. Well, ithis/i was going to be fun.

Silent for a moment, Sasori rummaged around his work place, grabbing a hard wooden cylinder before standing. He turned towards the blond and stepped over until he was just to the left of him before sitting back down again. "Ha... You wouldn't want to do it yourself, anyway. Trust me." Expressionless, he held the cylinder out for Deidara to take. "Put this in your mouth. Then give me your injured arm."

Oh, good. Sasori was going to help him fix his arm. He took the cylinder, regarding it with great interest, wondering what it was going to be used for. To whack his arm? Though he went pale when he was told to put it in his mouth. Crap. This was going to hurt wasn't it? The blond bit his lip, whimpering a little. He didn't want it to be fixed anymore. But if it was left unfixed, he probably would loose use of the arm completely. Really, he should endure the pain and let Sasori fix it. But, urgh...pain... Deidara obeyed his danna and put the cylinder in his mouth and holding his injured arm out. He scrunched up his eyes, not wanting to see it happen.

Maybe it would be a good idea to go find some painkillers. If only to numb what would be coming up... The puppet pondered the notion for a second or two before coming to a definate 'no'. This could wind up being a life lesson; don't get anything dislocated, it hurts like hell, and Sasori is not a good medic.

He watched Deidara comply before gently pulling his arm closer, unbandaging it and smiling in a rather creepy way. Now. The fun part. The part his partner didn't seem to thrilled about. "I'm going to count to three. Then I'm going to push it back into place." Psh...

Not even a second passed before he followed that statement with one simple word; "Three." And then, one hand swiftly and tightly grabbing the blond's hand, the other doing the same to the area just above the wrist. A milisecond of feeling for the proper position later, he pushed the two together and ihoped/i it would work.

Hey. As he sort of said, it was how dislocated shoulders were set back into place. He hadn't paid attention as to how to treat dislocated iwrists/i, as it just didn't happen before in his years of being a puppet. Or even a child, for that matter.

Another whimper escaped the blond's mouth as the bandage was removed from his arm. He had noticed that the puppet made no move to get any painkillers, but he couldn't say anything because of the cylinder in his mouth. Wait, did Sasori even know what he was doing? He was about to take the cylinder out of his mouth and ask said question before the puppet announced he was going to push it back into place after the count of three. Though, the shock hit when the pain seemed to come all too soon. He let out a muffled wail as he dug his teeth into the wood. Hopefully Sasori wasn't planning on using the cylinder, which was now covered with deep marks. The pain was beginning to make his eyes water. If anything, it hurt more than it did to begin with. After the pain started to decrease, Deidara took the wood out of his mouth. Great. Now his teeth hurt. He would've been better off chewing on a towel or something softer. The blond looked at his partner, his bottom lip quivering. 'Thank you, Danna,' he sobbed.

Sasori remained - aside from the creepy smile - expressionless all throughout the little ordeal, despite the obvious pain it caused Deidara. Since, no matter what, it had been going to be painful.

Although, he had to admit - deep, deep, ivery/i damn deep down inside, where what was left of his humanity lay, he felt a little bad about it. Hell, for all he knew, he just made it worse. "Hn." He watched the blond take the cynlinder out of his mouth, then nodded just slightly at his words. "... When we go to the village, you should check in with a medic." The puppet frowned, restraining himself from trying to comfort his partner.

After all, he was supposed to be iemotionless/i. A puppet, made from wood and metal, only having a heart for the purpose of using chakra.

Damnit, why did the blond have to look so pitiful?

The puppet turned his head to one side, finding inspecting the wall to be a tad bit more interesting - or at least less awkward - than watching Deidara right then.

Taking his arm slowly back to him, Deidara held it gently, as if it were a newborn baby. Even doing that sent surges of pain up his arm, making him wince slightly. He listened to his partner's words and nodded. 'Un…' he mumbled quietly. It sounded like a pretty good idea. All he'd have to do until then was try not to whack it on anything, say a door, and prevent himself from using it. Which would probably prove to be quite difficult. Though, fortunately, it wasn't the hand he wrote with. The blond followed the puppets eyes to the wall. He blinked at it, obviously confused, and then looked back at his partner. He shuffled over to Sasori and put his good arm around him, hugging him tightly. 'That's probably the only nice thing you've done for me in weeks, un,' he giggled, before letting the puppet go, knowing that if he held on for too long, it might annoy him. Then he repeated, "Thank you," smiling a little.

The hell was he doing? The puppet had watched Deidara shuffle over, frowning slightly. Then his face went blank as soon as the blond hugged him. He didn't try to move away, brow furrowing slightly at what his partner said.

... Okay, so maybe it was true. It had been the only nice thing he'd done for the sculptor in weeks. But then, Sasori wasn't the kind of person to go out of his way to do things for people, anyway. And that hadn't exactly been a inice/i thing... Now it was the puppet's turn to be a little confused.

"Hn," was the only reply the puppet offered before getting up and going back to his workstation. A fairly short moment later, it was followed by a, "There's a jar of natural painkillers in the closet, if you find you need them. It should be the one with the green top. They tend to work faster than the pills." 'Course, he icould/i have told the blond this information before. Oops.

The blond blinked. Painkillers? After the "fixing" had already taken place. What a brilliant idea. He huffed, getting to his feet and making his way over to the closet, to retrieve the painkillers. Of course he needed them. He was in agony. He didn't complain, though. His danna had suggested it, even if it was a little late. He just wondered, why not beforehand? Deidara opened the closet and looked for the green topped bottle, containing the painkillers. Unfortunately though, there were three green topped bottles in there. Brilliant. 'Which one is it, Danna?' he asked, taking the three out and placing them on Sasori's work station for him to look at. Because Deidara couldn't read the labels, oh no. That's far too hard.

The red head was quickly set to looking over the rest of Hiruko's tail joints, quickly getting engrossed into what he was doing. He was, of course, rather irritated when the blond brought the three green-topped bottles over and asked which was the painkillers... Seriously, Deidara couldn't be illiterate, could he?

Sasori grunted and, not looking up, tapped the lid of the left-most jar, not even bothering to see if he was right. Which was probably a stupid move on his part; most of the jars in the closet contained poisons of some sort, ranging from deadly and painful to mild and unpleasent.

But, he trusted that the blond would at least be able to tell something deadly apart from something that... Well, wasn't. If not... Well. He idid/i have antidotes. Somewhere.

Examining the bottle Sasori had tapped, Deidara blinked and tilted his head to the side. The bottle was clearly labelled "irritant." Irritant painkillers? Surely not. Wisely, the blond put it down and picked up the next one. Toxic this time. So, by process of elimination, the blond had worked out which of the tree bottles were the painkillers. What a clever boy. He went back over to the closet to replace the two poisons and picking up the painkillers, checking it, just to be safe. 'Were you trying to poison me, Danna?' he asked quietly, trying to unscrew the bottle. Ah, one of the idiot proof caps where you had to press down and twist at the same time to open them. Deidara sat on the floor, trying to open it, grumbling to himself. If the top weren't idiot proof, Deidara would've probably spilled the contents of the bottle on the floor judging by the amount of force he was using.


	4. Chapter 4

I should've mentioned this before. For the slow, the characters she plays talk in single quotes - '. Mine talk in double quotes - "

---.

Pausing in his work, Sasori watched Deidara look at the labels on each of the bottles. Hm, so he had pointed out the wrong one iand/i the blond could read. Well, one out of two of those was good, he figured.

He continued to observe as his partner put the other two bottles back into the closet, then frowned at the question. What a stupid thing to ask - if he had been trying to poison him, well... He would have succeeded. "Idiot. Not purposely, no," he answered, looking back to his Hiruko. Almost done with the tail... "I was just seeing if you could read." Next joint... Check. Joint... Tweak. Check. Joint... Eh?

The red head peered over at the sculptor out of the corner of his eyes, raising a brow while watching him try to open the bottle in slight amusement. "Want me to open that before you succeed to get them everywhere?"

Deidara concentration on opening the bottle was corrupted when he heard the puppet's reply. 'I can read,' he muttered, his eyes not moving from the medicine. 'I'm not mentally disabled or anything, un.' He didn't want to admit defeat and give the bottle to Sasori just yet. He really wanted to open the bottle, as if it would prove something. Mainly that he wasn't an idiot. Even though the directions of opening were clearly printed on the lid of the bottle. Proving once again he couldn't read. That, or he was incapable of taking note of incredibly easy instructions. Though he eventually admitted defeat and held the bottle out to his partner. 'Please,' he mumbled, pouting again.

The puppeteer rolled his eyes, checking one more joint and thus finishing checking Hiruko's tail. "I sometimes wonder about that," he mumbled off-handedly, looking up to watch Deidara's struggles with the bottle.

He sighed almost pityingly at the scene. It seemed that the blond was iblind/i, as well. Unless he was mistaken, didn't those bottles come with instructions? Tch. He smiled just slightly when Deidara finally held the bottle out to him, and pretty much snatched it from his hand. In one simple motion - a little push and a twist - Sasori had it open. Then he held out for the blond to take back. "There."

The blond took note of how the puppet had opened the bottle. He'd have to practice that, wouldn't he? He took the bottle back from his partner, thanking him once again. He thought about putting the lid back on and attempting to open it by himself. But instead, he wisely took two tablets out and resealed the bottle, returning it to the closet where he had retrieved it. He then exited to room, heading for the bathroom to take them. Due to past experiences, he knew that dry swallowing tablets was not very clever and rather painful. Upon returning to his and Sasori's bedroom, he collapsed onto his bed, his face buried in the pillow. 'Bored now, un,' came his muffled voice. It was still early morning. Maybe he should have a nap.

As soon as the bottle was taken, Sasori once more went back to working on Hiruko. There wasn't much to do with the non-living puppet, really. The tail was probably the only troublesome place, as he had already checked it over last time they came back from a mission, and he hadn't used it since...

Which meant he was done, unless he wanted to add something to it, and he didn't feel exactly up to doing that at the moment. The red-head frowned. A full day of... Nothing, unless the damnable rain stopped.

He looked up and over at Deidara when he re-entered the room - he hadn't even been aware that the blond had left - before leading his puppet back to it's place in the closet. "We could always go to the village despite the rain," he pointed out, shrugging.

Well, it was more interesting than being suffocated than a pillow all day, wasn't it? But sleeping seemed like a better option than going out in the rain. He flipped himself over and sat up looking over at his partner. 'But my hair'll get wet, un,' he mumbled, going to fold his arms, when a sharp pain told him otherwise. 'And I dun wanna wear my hat.' Though, the hat was mainly to hide the identity of an Akatsuki member, not keep out the rain. He carried on watching his puppet companion with a slightly questioning expression on his face. 'Danna? Is it fun being a puppet?' he asked. 'I mean, you don't need to sleep, you don't need to eat and you don't need to wash.' He counted all the points on his fingers whilst looking up at the ceiling, trying to think up more reasons why being a puppet could be better than being flesh and bone.

Once Hiruko had been put away, he went over and perched on the edge of his own bed, fiery red half-lidded eyes on the blond. He didn't want to get his hair wet? Or wear the hat? It was only water - the puppet had more to be miffed about, but he wasn't complaining, was he? "You get your hair wet every time you shower, what's so different about going out in the rain?" He muttered, raising a brow. And then he rose the other, as Deidara's question.

Is it... iFun/i being a puppet? Sasori frowned - then gave him a skeptical look at the last reason he rhymed off. "I still need to wash occasionally." Mud, paint spills - he wasn't going to go around looking like a fucking rainbow mudcake for the rest of his very long life. "As for 'is it fun being a puppet' - it has advantages like the ones you've listed, Deidara, and then it has it's disadvantages." Like everything else. He shrugged.

The blond shrugged. 'Acid rain,' he muttered as his little compback. Though there wasn't much of it, seeing as they lived in a pretty remote area, away from the hustle and bustle of the large hidden villages. Heck, they were more like viewable cities.

He shuffled around so he was facing the red head. He sniggered a little, imagining him covered in year old mud. That was quite a good point. 'List some,' he persisted, suddenly more interested in the conversation. There must be less disadvantages than advantages. Sasori was probably older than Deidara, though he maintained the youthful looks of a teenager. So he didn't age. Another advantage. Though he didn't state it.

The puppet blinked slowly. Acid rain. How the hell were they supposed to get acid rain where they were? That was like Sunagakure getting flooded or something... Which just didn't happen... "Hn." Whatever - he'd try to make an umbrella or two. Out of wood. Later. Joy.

He tilted his head to one side just slightly, wondering what the blond was sniggering about. Neh - if he asked, he'd probably want to hit the fool with something... "Fine." The puppet crossed his arms. "I'll outlive all of you - except maybe Hidan and Kakuzu. Not like that's much of a disadvantage," he muttered, cupping his chin in one hand, then smiled almost bitterly. "No feelings, physical or otherwise. But that can be useful, too..." He furrowed his brow thoughtfully. "Hmph... So maybe there aren't any true disadvantages," he mused, shrugging again.

No physical feelings? Meaning he had no sense of touch? Deidara's eyes widened. 'Wow...you mean...you have no feeling whatsoever?' He got up and walked over to the puppet, leaning down, regarding his face with great interest. He lifted his good hand and plucked a single red hair from the top of Sasori's head. 'Did you feel that?' he asked, moving down to poke his cheek. 'Or that?' He then lifted the puppet's wooden hand and held it, comparing it to his own, mentally. It was smooth and hard. Not squishy. Obviously, seeing as he didn't have skin.

Sasori answered the question with a simple shake of his head - wasn't he clear enough? Wait... What was the blond fool doing? The puppet watched Deidara walk over, slightly curious when he leaned down. The curiosity turned to slight agitation when the fool plucked a hair from his head, asked if felt it, then poked him, asked again. iThen/i he lifted one of his hands... The red-head narrowed his eyes a little. "No and no, dumbass. What the hell are you doing?" He pulled his hand back, looking at it briefly before turning a half-glare, half-questioning look to him.

He wasn't finished yet. He sat down on the bed next to his partner and grabbed his hand again, holding it tightly. He slowly raised his bad arm, the pain of which was slowly decreasing and made the puppet face him 'Then you wouldn't feel this...' he whispered, leaning in until Sasori's mouth met his own. Odd. He expected his lips to feel hard like wood and leave splinters or something. But it felt pretty normal. He wanted to enjoy this moment for as long as possible. Seeing as it could be his only chance to do this. He was inwardly expecting Sasori to push him away and yell at him, so it wouldn't upset him too much.

The puppet's glare strengthened when the blond didn't respond, sitting on the bed beside him and grabbing his hand again. And then... What did he think he was idoing/i?! Sasori was about to question what Deidara meant before the answer was made apparent by... Other means. Once mouth met mouth, the red-head's eyes widened considerably. Part of him was pretty much demanding that he shoved the fool away - although, in contrast, another part was telling him to inot/i do that, that he actually liked what was going on... Damnit, now he knew how Zetsu felt all the time!

He got a hold on his inner turmoil once he got over the complete shock brought on by the sculptor's unexpected gesture of... Exploration? Affection? Whatever it was... The puppet didn't exactly shove the blond away, but he pulled himself back, instead. Okay, so maybe to some extent, he icould/i feel. He was highly confused, but bit back the many questions swimming around in his thoughts. Instead, he raised a hand to his own mouth and looked away. "... No... I wouldn't." And then, he growled, covering confusion with anger. "Deidara. Leave."

As the puppet pulled away, Deidara blinked. Surprised he hadn't been shoved away. Though he wasn't expecting the kiss to last longer than it did, the feeling in his stomach was back. He knew it was a bad idea to kiss Sasori, but because of getting so close to him seconds before, his emotions got the better of him. He looked at his partner, and bit his lip as he turned away. He almost bit through it when he heard the harsh words leak from the other's mouth. Silently, the blond stood up and headed for the door, obeying. He closed the door behind him and leant his head on it, his eyes screwed shut and his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach. The pain was increasing. It felt like someone had stuck a knife right through him and was slowly turning it, making no move to remove it. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to be alone. The sculptor removed himself from his little spot on the door and headed over to the window, sliding it open and climbing out. The wall was slippery, due to the rain, but he managed to hold on, just fine. He pulled himself up until he was on the roof and sat down, resting his arms on his knees. Deidara still couldn't believe what he had just done. He liked it, of course, but why had he done it? Did he love Sasori? He didn't know. So he sat there, in the rain, trying to figure out said question.

As he turned his head and watched Deidara silently leave without a word, Sasori closed his eyes and mentally counted to ten. His thoughts were a mess, jumping from 'What the ihell/i did he think he was doing?!' to 'You shouldn't have told him to leave!'. Clenching a fist, he re-opened his eyes and glared over at his little workstation for the sake of glaring at something. To get an answer to those questions, he'd have to ask the blond. But there was a problem with that.

He'd pretty much just demanded for said blond to leave the room. He sighed, letting his lids droop down over his fiery, oddly tired eyes. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to persue the sculptor given that fact...

Despite that conclusion, he stood anyway and started for the door. At which he paused, staring at the knob. Supposing he found Deidara - what would he say? Would the blond be willing the answer his questions, or even talk - or would he just... Well, give him the cold shoulder? Not like he didn't deserve it, now that he thought about it. What the hell was he thinking? Pushing every single thought to the bad of his mind, Sasori exited the room, closing the door behind him quietly before looking around the hall. No sign of his partner, but the window... Why the hell was it open? ... Ugh.

"Dumbass," he muttered, striding over to it and peering out. Well, he wasn't below, thankfully... Great. He was going to have to climb if he wanted to find the idiot. Assuming he really did go out the window.

By this time, Deidara was soaked to the bone; his hair was stuck to his face and sniffing every now and again. Not from crying. From being so fucking freezing. He would've been better off in the living room or the kitchen. Though, the roof felt a lot more remote. The rain was all he could hear. No birds. No Tobi yelling. Nothing, but the rain pattering heavily on the roof tiles. Despite being alone to think things over, he hadn't managed to find an answer to his burning question. Actually, he'd been trying his best to avoid answering it. Part of him wanted the answer and the other didn't. That part was yelling at him, "Why did you kiss him, idiot? Why would a puppet with no emotions whatsoever want you?" He stared up at the white sky, hoping for an answer to slap him in the face. Eventually, a huge raindrop landed on his nose. Not the answer he was praying for, but it made him sneeze. Great. Now he was getting a cold. The blond, who's hair was now a murky brown, wrapped his arms around himself tightly, and shivered. 'Danna…' he whimpered.

The red-head carefully eased himself out of the window, glaring at the ground below. All things considered, he'd have to be really damn careful, unless he wanted to be piecing himself back together; being made from wood allowed for less grip than being made from flesh. But, miraculously, he managed to make it up onto the roof without falling off. And then he saw the soaked, shivering, and ever-pitiful looking blond.

iIdiot/i. Sasori sighed, frowning at the whimpered 'danna'. Was this depressing creature really Deidara? Did the rejection affect him that much...? Surely that couldn't be the case...

The puppet sat on his knees a few feet away, tearing his gaze from his partner to look off into... Nowhere, really. "I thought you said you didn't like getting your hair wet, Deidara," he put forth in his usual, toneless voice. He didn't want to bring up the occurance from minutes ago just yet. The blond would probably do the honours of doing that.

Hearing Sasori's voice, made Deidara jump. He stared at him, his mouth hanging open a little. Did he just…summon him, or something? Though, when the puppet recalled the words he had mentioned himself, he shuffled around, back facing him. The way he had said it bothered the sculptor. He didn't want to look at him either. Another reason why the back of the cloak was all that faced Sasori. 'Like you care,' he muttered, shivering again. What was he doing here? Didn't he just order him to leave? Furiously at that. Though, he managed to think up a comeback to his last remark. 'I thought you wanted to wear your puppet friend to keep the rain out, un.' Yeah, that was the one thing that they both had in common. They both disliked rain. He was tempted to turn around, but he couldn't bring himself to perform that action. It would already upset him more than he already was. He wanted to hate Sasori. But he couldn't. He was too soft to hate someone like him.

Peering over at Deidara - or at least as his back - when he heard the blond's muttered response, the puppet furrowed his brow. Okay, truthfully, to some extent, he really ididn't/i care. Unfourtunately, he found, to another extent, he idid/i. And it was bothering him to no end, along with the depressing blond. The mood didn't really suit him at all. Neither did the atmosphere; he looked cold.

Sighing quietly, irritably, Sasori crawled forward until he was probably a little less than a foot away from the sculptor. "Hn. Hiruko isn't the best thing to wear when trying to climb up onto the roof, idiot." The answer came out more blunt and... Harsh, than he would have wanted, but - whatever.

It seemed like he would have to bring 'it' up if he wanted to get some answers. For once, the puppet was definately not looking forward to something. "What was... iThat/i... About?" He inquired, unable to bring himself to actually say it. Way to be mature.

A blue eye twitched slightly at the puppet's words and voice. He clenched his fist tightly, only to relax it seconds later. 'You're the one who told me to leave,' Deidara replied. 'And I didn't exactly ask you to climb up here either, un.' He didn't want Sasori there. Not really. He'd much rather answer his mental question than talk to him. But, alas, not everything could go right. As proven a few minutes ago. When his partner mentioned the kiss he shivered a little. The way he referred to it as "That." As if it was so disgusting it couldn't be given its proper name. For a few seconds, Deidara left the question unanswered. Wasn't it obvious why he had done it? The sculptor was planning on answering, but he couldn't find the right words. So far the answers he had thought up were maybe…just a little bit too queer. The blond turned to look at the puppet, though when his eyes met the other's, he averted them, looking at the wet roof tiles. 'It felt…right,' he mumbled in response. Pretty wimpy. But it was an answer.

Well... That was true. He had told the blond to leave. And, the blond hadn't asked him to climb up the roof... "I did tell you to leave. Yes. But I didn't say to go out onto the roof." If he'd known that that was where Deidara was going to go to, he wouldn't have told him to leave; last thing he needed was to be looking after him for a week or so if or when he got sick.

Sasori waited impatiently for the answer to question number one, staring intently at the back of the pitiful sculptor's head. He continued to do so, silent, until his partner turned around. The puppet blinked slowly when, after their eyes met, Deidara averted his.

The answer he recieved made him look away, as well.

It felt right? The three words caused the puppet to become a little... Frustrated. What was that supposed to mean? 'Felt right'. iFelt/i. Did the blond forget one simple, little fact? Although he was going to ask that, he instead found himself saying, "We should get back inside." Even though he couldn't feel, he knew the blond was obviously could. And from his years as a human way-back-when, he knew rain could be really damn cold.

Taking note of the puppet's reaction to his petty answer, Deidara remained silent, his eyes boring into the tiles, shivering a lot more. He realised he had forgot to contemplate that Sasori couldn't feel. God, that must've made him sound so selfish. Or more stupid at least. He was cold, wet, feeling like a complete idiot and he just wanted to be alone. He hated this sort of tension. And, sadly, he experienced it far too much. Taking up his Danna's suggestion, he slid forwards. Though, looking at the sheer drop below him, made his face go paler than it already was. He stood up, and looked behind him. He gave a tiny smile, before disappearing. The sculptor landed on the floor with a bump. Well, that wasn't a good landing, was it? Still, he felt weak, so it was no wonder. He stood up again, before flopping onto the floor. Argh, where had his energy gone? He was only out in the rain for, what? Little more than three or four minutes. It was as if all his chakra had been sucked out of him. Shit. The roof. Leader had booby trapped it with chakra absorbing tiles for intruders. How could he have fallen for a trick he had been told about time and time again?

Deidara needn't feel stupid about forgetting the trapped roof; Sasori had, while his mind was on finding the blond, forgotten it, too. Only iafter/i watching his partner leave the roof did he remember it, and he face-palmed. Nng, knowing his luck he was going to slip and land in a puddle of mud or something...

The puppet crawled to the edge, peering down. Well. Apparently his partner was successful in getting back inside. Now it was his turn.

It wasn't as hard to do as he had thought it would be; soon enough, he found himself sitting precariously on the window-ledge and watching the blond expressionlessly. "You look like a drowned rat," he muttered, shaking his head from side-to-side to try to rid his hair of some of the water. Unlike the sculptor, while yes - his chakra had been drained, too - the puppet didn't feel weak. Or tired. He just wouldn't be able to use his puppets for a while. Which meant...

With a slightly irritated sigh, he stood, taking a step away from the window and holding a hand out for his partner so that he could held the fool up.


	5. Chapter 5

Well, that was stating the complete obvious. He had been out in the rain. The blond wanted to tell the puppet the same thing, but he didn't look that wet. Even though his hair was a lot darker than it usually was, as was most peoples' after being out in the rain. But when Sasori offered his hand to help him up, he decided against the remark, taking it and pulling himself to his feet. The fact that he had done that made him smile. That was the second kind act the red head had committed in the same day. It must've been a record! He would probably have to go to bed earlier that night, if he wanted to restore any of his stolen chakra from the trapped roof. Once he had managed to get his footing, he took a step back from the puppet, looking at the ground. 'I…' he began. No. Saying that would make the tension all that much worse. 'I'm gunna go have a shower,' he announced, before making his way down the corridor, holding onto the wall for support. Having a shower was a good idea. He'd be less likely to catch a cold and he'd be able to clear his thought properly. He'd also get the alone time that had been seeking out. Yeah, perfect idea.

The puppet stared at the blond once the fool was standing, raising a brow when said fool looked at the ground and began a sentence starting with 'I', then trailing off. Due to being forced to watch sappy romantic movies, courtesy of Zetsu's 'good' half, he knew for certain that couldn't be a good sigh - and was almost relieved when he continued the sentence by annoucing he was going to have a shower.

Almost. Two problems. One, what had Deidara been igoing/i to say, originally? Did he even want to know? And two; considering the idiot had to hold onto the wall to get down the corridor, it didn't seem like it would be too good of an idea to let him take a shower alone. Wait - what the ihell/i was he thinking?! Eugh, it - whatever 'it' was - was contagious...

Sasori shook his head again, as if to rid himself of such troublesome thoughts, before swiftly turning and marching into the shared bedroom. Whilst the blond felt the need to get himself wet again, he felt the need - or, to rephrase that, iwanted/i - to get dry. Before he got waterlogged and got woodrot or something.

Luckily, Itachi had just finished his third session in the bathroom when Deidara entered. The raven sniggered as the drenched artist walked past him. Though he remained silent, heading into his own room. The blond shed his clothing and stepped into the shower, shivering. Why in hell did he feel the need to go out onto the roof in the pouring rain? This was one of the many questions that were now buzzing around his head. Though, the warm water pelting on his face seemed to relax him a little. He leant onto the wall for a couple of minutes, before making any attempt to wash his hair. After about ten minutes, he made his way out of the bathroom, his sodden clothes under his arm. He'd have to put them in the washroom afterwards. He didn't really want to venture over there whilst wearing nothing but a towel. He entered the shared room and looked over at his partner, smiling. 'I'm all better now, un,' he said happily, placing his clothes on his bed and going over to the closet to get a new set of clothes for himself.

In the minutes Deidara had been in the shower, Sasori had been in the room, obviously. His wet clothing had been discarded at the foot of his bed, as he had been too damn busy trying to dry himself off and out to really care about taking them to the washroom.

Thankfully, however, by the time the blond had entered the room, he had on a pair on plain black, uniform trousers. Not like it mattered much; he was a puppet, after all. Wooden body, and so on. It would have probably been like seeing a simple child's doll without it's clothing; 'cept this dolly was alive and was able to kick ass.

Also by that time, he was reclining on his bed, hands over his chest and blank red eyes staring up at the cieling. He gave a simple "Good," in response to his partner, several seconds passing before he bothered to lift his head and look at him. Looked like he wouldn't have to play doctor again; he apparently wasn't sick.

Then, to allow the blond a little privacy, he let his drop down again so that he was back to staring at the cieling. It would be creepy, even for him, to watch the idiot dress.

It wasn't as if he had expected the puppet to say any more than he had done. Though, he kind of hoped for more. Deidara made no move to get dressed until he felt Sasori's gaze leave him. He quickly got dressed, rummaging around in the cupboard for the hairdryer. When it finally sunk in that the device wasn't in its usual spot, he glanced around the room looking for it. He contemplated leaving his hair to dry naturally, but it would result in more of a chance of catching a cold. Soon, blue eyes spied a wire poking out from under his bed. And sure enough, the long lost hairdryer was found. How it had found its way under there was a complete mystery. Instead of asking his partner why it was there, he retrieved it. Having long hair had its downfalls, especially when it came to drying it. When that task was done, he placed it back in the cupboard where it should have been in the first place, and went to lie down on his own bed. He looked over to Sasori and followed his gaze up to the ceiling. Urgh, he was probably going to have to answer his questions now. An event he didn't want to go through with.

Er... Whoops. The red-head blinked slowly when he heard the hairdryer turn on after the blond had found it. Eheh. Okay, so he could be messy, too; he had used it, and, in a bout of 'I don't wanna get up, the roof is too interesting'ness, he just slid it under his partner's bed. Well, the fool was going to use it - and he had, after all, right? 'Course it could have helped to itell/i him it was under the bed...

Too late, now. With a mental shrug, he listened to Deidara move around the room, putting the dryer back into the cupboard before heading over to his bed. He waited for... Eh, he estimated a minute, before he turned his head slightly to look over to his partner's bed, and, ultimately, his partner, as well.

"Deidara." Great, now how was he going to word this? After about fifty years of living, he was having trouble coming up with one simple question. Damnable idiot, fool... He frowned. "What." The simple word came out as a sentence unto itself. The puppet paused, cursed himself for how stupid he was being, then closed his eyes. "Back in the hall way. You started to say something before you said you were going for a shower. Right?" He opened one eye a crack to watch the blond.

While the minute passed, Deidara was praying he had gotten out of answering questions. But, sadly, it just didn't seem like his day. His gaze left its original spot on the ceiling and landed on his partner opposite him. Waiting for a question to come, it seemed the puppet felt as awkward as the blond did. He didn't rush him, though. The tension was beginning to creep back as well. Ah…that question. The inner Deidara was screaming at him to lie, making no move to tell him what exactly to say. And the feeling in his stomach was back. But making a move to clutch it would probably make his lie a little easy to uncover. He didn't reply straight away, which may have been another hint of the false fact. And making thinking sounds like "Uhm" or "Eh…" would end up being another clue. 'I was going to say I'm going for a shower, un,' he replied, quietly. 'I just took my time…coz…the tension was bugging me…' His eyes moved back to the ceiling again. God, he was such a bad liar.

Sasori kept a keen eye on the blond as he waited for an answer. The quiet moment before he did made the puppet rather suspicious - if his blond companion was a friggin' machine, he'd probably be able to hear the gears whirring in his mind. Fourtunately that was not so; it would be creepy... And annoying.

Just like the answer he received. Annoying, however, not creepy. He had years of life experience - observing people, how they behaved - it wasn't a new thing. He was pretty sure the blond was lying... The way Deidara looked back to the ceiling after answering ialmost/i confirmed his suspicions, to some degree. "Are you sure that was all you were going to say?" He wasn't going to particularly force the blond to spill it. Yet. Not until it started bugging him endlessly, assuming his suspicions proved true somehow. He'd just give his partner a chance for an easy way out; answer truthfully then and there, or later, under whatever circumstances resulted from potentially twisted curiosity.

Needless to say, 'later' probably wouldn't be an overly fun choice... Well, not for the sculptor. But he wasn't going to hint at that.

Almost as soon as the puppet opened his mouth again, Deidara knew exactly what he was going to say. This time, his reply came much quicker. 'Yeah, I'm sure,' he replied, his eyes not moving from the ceiling. Damn, maybe he answered just a little…too soon and too quickly. He was oblivious to the fact that he'd be asked again later on. He was far too busy trying to answer his own little question. Wait…no. Big question. The sculptor wondered if he should go to talk to someone about his mental dilemma. Although, Sasori was probably the one he was closest to in the whole building. But he would probably not consider Deidara to be a friend. Perhaps a guy he had no choice but to hang around with. He could call his mother for the first time in, what? Five…six years? God, surely he was old enough by now to know his own sexuality. Sadly, he didn't. Maybe his fellow artist was the only one he could talk to. He contemplated it. 'Do you…' No. He wouldn't ask. He'd just lie on his bed, stare at the ceiling and keep himself to himself. 'Dun matter, un,' he murmured, placing his arms over his stomach to ward away the increasing pain in his gut.

"Hn." 'Question Deidara again at a later date' was quickly filed away in the 'to do' part of the puppet's mental filing cabinet. There was idefinately/i something that the blond wasn't telling him. Now he was curious. And when Sasori was curious... He ieventually/i found out whatever it was he was curious about. Somehow.

The silence that followed the little Q'n A session was slightly irritating to the red-head. He didn't know whether it was an awkward silence or just... 'Normal' silence. Then again, when the hell was silence between him and Deidara ever normal? ... When the hell were they iever/i normal? The puppet frowned, looking back up at the ceiling as well, trying to think of something to say to break the vile silence.

However, he found he didn't need to; the blond broke it first. Once again looking from the ceiling to the sculptor, he blinked. Then growled. "'Do I' iwhat/i, Deidara?" He was inot/i going to let the idiot get away without saying whatever the hell it was he started to say this time. Plus, his patience was running precariously short. "Say what you were going to say. Now."

Maybe asking Sasori if he liked guys was not a good idea, considering the tone of his voice when ordering Deidara to finish his question. The blond quickly changed the queer little question around to something a bit more innocent. 'Do you like me?' he asked, looking over at his partner. If Sasori's answer was no, he wouldn't ask any more questions. But a yes…well…then things would get just a little bit more personal. He was hoping for a no, seeing as he didn't want to go any further and keep his thoughts to himself. Although, a part of him was praying for the puppet to say yes. Not to use it as another excuse to kiss him again. But to know that he did have a heart. Not the physical heart he had only for chakra. A heart mentally to show that he actually could feel. The sculptor had let his thought dance around just a tad too much and he had forgotten to avert his gave back onto the ceiling again. He quickly did so, feeling slightly foolish.

The question caused the puppet to blink. Then blink again. Did he... Like the blond? Given recent events, he figured that it was a justifiable question... Sort of. But one, Sasori knew, he'd actually have to think about; answering carelessly, knowing his luck, would lead to a hell of a lot of frustration.

So. Did he? The red head continued to stare at Deidara after the sculptor looked back to the ceiling, mind a whirl. Well, for all the damn arguments they got into about art, he offered a different point of view other than his own 'art is forever' ideal. Which - not that he'd say so - gave him something to think about during quiet nights when, for whatever reason, he didn't feel like tinkering with his puppets.

And... They idid/i make a good team. Sometimes. Sort of. They were both artists, at any rate. And at least the blond wasn't as annoying as that masked idiot...

Even so, he hadn't the faintest clue how to answer that question. Deciding he'd hesitated long enough in answering, he sighed, looked back up to the ceiling, then closed his eyes in mock-tiredness. "... Maybe." He would really have to do some thinking on that question.

The ceiling was preoccupying Deidara whilst he awaited the answer to his question from Sasori. And, it was pretty crap at doing that. He began to wonder if he had even heard his question and looked over at him. Well…it seemed like the ceiling was help him think as well, so he must've heard it, otherwise he would still be glaring at him, awaiting the question. But when the answer came, the blond's heart sank. Maybe? Not yes. Not no. Maybe. The reply had slightly frustrated him. Had he just said maybe to annoy him? No…he looked like he was deep in thought again. He'd have to just accept it. 'Oh…okay,' he mumbled. Should he just add a friendly little response? To kill the tension and sound unphased by the "maybe" Yeah, might as well. 'I like you,' he grinned, glancing over at Sasori again. He made no move to add that he liked him. That would just bring the awkwardness crashing back.

Ha, it sounded like Deidara wasn't exactly thrilled with his reply. Sasori smirked slightly; well. Too bad - 'maybe' was all he was getting. For now, anyway... The smirk froze on the puppet's face when the blond followed up the mumbling with an 'I like you'. At least it wasn't the iother/i 'l'-word... But still.

He turned his head to look back over to his partner. For a moment, the red head's expression seemed almost innocent, before it was overtaken by the usual blank and indifferent stare. "Hn..." And that was all it seemed like he was going to say. Though, due to earlier, his curiosity had been awoken, and now it had found a new target.

"iWhy/i do you like me?" He wasn't the most agreeable person ever... And he was as friendly as a cactus, most of the time. Plus, he hadn't exactly been the nicest person towards the sculptor. Thus, it was sort of a mystery for him. Hell, the iblond/i was a mystery to him, sometimes - one that made as much sense as a roof full of holes.

Well, the silence was once again broken, but the tension was rising at an alarming pace. So was the pain in Deidara's stomach. 'Uhm…' That was actually a good question. Sasori usually acted unpleasant and mean towards him. But the blond respected him greatly. Mainly because of his fighting and artistic skills. He didn't really like the puppet's personality, but he liked having his attention. And he felt pretty happy when he did have his attention. And Sasori was the only person who really talked to Deidara. Crossing out Tobi. He certainly didn't enjoy it when he was forced to hang around the stupid Uchiha. 'Coz I respect you,' he replied, sincerely, looking over at the puppet again. 'I wanna get closer to you, un.' When it suddenly occurred to Deidara that what he had just said may be taken the wrong way, he quickly added, 'By that I mean I wanna be your friend, un.' He hoped his answer wouldn't result in more rejection. He was feeling a little more comfortable telling his partner the truth instead of lying. Maybe it was because he felt much less awkward.

While awaiting an answer more to his question more than 'uhm', the puppet took a moment to study his partner from where they lay, filling in what he couldn't see from his vantage point mentally. Fine features; rather girly. Nice on the eyes. Shame he'd grow old, wrinkle, and eventually die and rot. Assuming he lived to that old... But either way; worm food. Unless...

Thankfully that train of thought was interrupted by an actual reply. Fiery red eyes widened a fraction, however. Well, he could have guessed the first thing; it was the second thing that worried him slightly. Until the blond added the third sentence. Ah, friends...

Then what the ihell/i had that kiss been all about? Psh. Friends. He wasn't buying it - although... To save them both some grief, apprehension, or whatever, he didn't bring that up again. Instead, he frowned thoughtfully.

When it came to friends, Sasori had none, really. Except his non-living puppets, and they didn't really count. He didn't really see the point in them. "... Fine." But for the hell of it, he might as well humour the blond with his whole friend-thing. He didn't want Deidara to get any more depressed.

Not really noticing his partner's gaze that was upon him, he smiled a little. At least the puppet hadn't made a cruel statement such as, "I dun need friends blah blah blah." Hopefully that was the last of the questions for a while now. Blue orbs were then drawn to the lump of wetness at the end of his bed. Urgh, he'd have to go get that sorted out. He sat up, picking up his sodden clothes and swinging his legs over the side of his bed. 'I'm gunna go take these to the washroom,' he announced, getting to his feet. Luckily, by lying down for a bit, he'd managed to get enough chakra back to let him walk a bit more freely. He headed to the door and stopped when he was about to reach for the doorknob. Seeing as he wanted to be friends with Sasori, surely a few friendly acts wouldn't hurt. He looked over at him and grinned. 'Want me to take your clothes too?' he asked. His clothes were never going to dry whilst lying in a heap on the floor, were they? Plus they'd get all creased when they did eventually dry. It wouldn't hurt to call his mum whilst he was downstairs as well. There was only one phone in the building, which, much to many of the residents' annoyance ran on money. Thinking he might end up being a while, he placed his clothes on the bed again and knelt down, digging under his bed for his rucksack. He took out his wallet and poured a few coins into his hand. Enough for a half an hour phone call. Maybe that was a bit too much…

The red head watched the sculptor get up, announcing that he was going to take his clothes to the washroom. Good - he'd be able to think without his thoughts wandering off to puppetizing the blond, or being interrupted, or something like that. Then maybe he could come up with a better answer than just... Well, 'maybe', to the whole 'do you like me' question.

He turned his eyes to the ceiling - only to look back to Deidara seconds later when he heard the blond offer to take his clothes down, too. He stared at his partner for a moment more while the blond dug under his bed for something... Ah. The only thing he could think of that needed money downstairs was the phone and - assuming he was downstairs - Kakuzu. And although he was curious as to who he was going to phone, Sasori didn't see the need in asking. He also didn't want to appear... Nosier than usual.

So, letting that curiosity go free, the puppet 'hn'd quietly, as if thinking. Then, he shrugged. "Go ahead." Truth be told, with everything else occupying his thoughts, he had forgotten all about his own little pile of wet clothing. He probably wouldn't get around to bringing them downstairs until hours later. So, why not let him take them down, instead? It might just wind up getting him a little bit more uninterrupted thinking time.

Shoving the money in his pocket, Deidara grinned and nodded. It would save his partner a trip downstairs later one, wouldn't it? He picked up the two bundles of clothing and quickly exited the room. Now to think about what the hell he would say to his mother. "Hi mum, it's been a while. Guess what! I think I'm gay!"…No…Maybe not. "Mum…there's this guy who I'm with 24/7 and I really like him, but he doesn't like me." No. "Mum…help." Yes…that would work. After putting the clothes in the washroom, he headed to the kitchen where the only phone resided. But sadly, someone had got there first. Kisame was prank calling again. And, by the looks of the money he had put on the side, he was going to be a while. The blond sat on the counter, thinking up different things he could say to his mother. Heck, maybe it would get his question answered. Hopefully it would. But Kisame's growling down the phone was preventing from thinking properly. 'Hurry up, un,' he muttered, agitatedly.

About a minute after Deidara had left the room, Sasori sat up and stared at whatever happened to be directly infront of him. Which, of course, was the wall. Now, a good way to come up with an answer to 'that' question would probably be to compare good and bad things about the blond.

Now, other than what he had already come up with... 'Art is a bang'. Bad. Art lasts forever, and explosions were annoying. Effective in battle, but loud and... Attention-grabbing. He could be hyper and idiotic sometimes - which could be bad ior/i good. Bad when the puppet was trying to concentrate, good when there was nothing else going on. Hm.

He shifted so that he was sitting cross-legged, elbows on knees, head in hands, frowning thoughtfully. The blond could be helpful; as was seen just moments ago. And, he could be... Well, either impulsive or overly... iDirect/i, he figured, as could have been seen what... An hour or so ago? ... Well, he couldn't truly say he totally hated or despised the guy... But he wasn't going to admit to liking him, either. He was of the flesh, afterall; which brought him back to the whole 'flesh eventually dies' thing. As per usual.

Even immortals got hungry. The Akatsuki's one and only, oh-so Holy Jashinist made his way to the kitchen, grumbling something about lazy, good-for-nothing fucktards. In otherwords, Kakuzu and that stupid, overgrown weed. He'd just stepped into the room, and that asshole of a partner of his pretty much ordered him to fetch some snacks.

And after almost ending up headless for the fifth time that week, Hidan quickly went to get them.

Once in the kitchen, he paused for a moment, rose a brow at the pranking fish-man and goldie-locks, then headed for the fridge. Eh, what the fuck ever. If he took too long in bringing the grub, Kakuzu would probably end up having an anyeurism or something.


	6. Chapter 6

When Hidan entered the kitchen, it suddenly occurred to Deidara that he didn't really want anyone listening in to his rather…personal conversation with his mother. It would only end up with him getting teased. Either, "Mama's boy" or "Queer." Names he didn't really want to be associated with. Hardly anyone called him Deidara anyway. It was always blondie, Dei or Deidei…which he hated. Actually, his only friend seemed to also be the only one who referred to him as Deidara. Aw. Kisame had finally finished with the phone and slunk out the room, sniggering away evilly. The blond leaped off the counter top and grabbed the phone, practically ripping it off the wall. He put a few coins into the machine, around enough for ten minutes and slowly entered in the phone number. He was being sure to enter it correctly, seeing as he didn't want to loose his money. The sculptor was stalling on his way back upstairs, thinking about the conversation he had just had over and over again. He was very close to answering his question now. Very close. So close that he didn't want to go back up to his room. He was really worried. What if he ended up doing something crazy like kissing Sasori again? He slowly opened the door, closing it behind him. He chose not to look at his partner, but at the floor. Ah…his bed. Exactly what he needed. The blond collapsed onto his bed, his face in his pillow.

By the time the sculptor re-entered the room, Sasori had made good enough progress in answering his own question. Sort of. He got side-tracked courtesy of a mental scolding he had admistered to himself after catching himself in that act of plotting how and when to turn Deidara into a puppet. Again. Something he ididn't/i want to do - at least not at that point in time.

Though he guessed it answered the question for him, as he tended to want to make it so that what he liked would live forever. Or at least ilast/i forever... Not exactly live.

The red-head watched the blond, taking note of how he kept his gaze to the floor. His thoughtful frown deepened just a tad. Either it had been a run-in with one of the other guys, or whoever he had phoned... He decided not to say anything after he watched his partner collapse onto the bed. The idiot seemed tired, or something. Forcing his eyes back to looking at the wall, the puppeteer pondered what to do. For once, he didn't feel like working on his puppets, and he didn't have to cook until tomorrow. Sighing quietly, he glared out the window. Damn rain.

Sleeping seemed like quite a nice idea for the sculptor. It would give him something to do and restore a lot more of his chakra. He also didn't really want to do some of his own artwork. He had recently felt the urge to paint some of his creations, but alas, he had run out of paint. Another thing he could get from the village when the rain had stopped. Though it didn't seem like it was easing up. If anything, it was heavier than it was when he was out on the roof. Preventing himself from being suffocated, Deidara turned over, his back to his partner. But this meant he was resting on his damaged arm. The pain killers were still working, so it wasn't hurting much at all. He wondered how long he'd have to suffer with his arm in the condition it was in. Hopefully not too long. His mother had been quite surprised that her long lost son had got in contact with her. And she was very supportive about his problem. Actually, the main thing they talked about was where Deidara had been for the last few years. His query was only brought up nearer to the end of the phone call. The main piece of advice that she had given him was to tell Sasori how he felt and hope that he didn't react too badly. Deidara was a bit reluctant, but agreed. He'd just have to wait until they were both in a good mood. But not now. He was still pondering.

For once, the puppet was bored. He'd come up with an actual answer to 'that' question, didn't feel like working on his puppets, and thinking would only lead to unwelcome thoughts including the sculptor and the human-to-puppet process. Speaking of the blond, he wasn't talking or even looking at him, and was apparently going to sleep. It was times like these that he missed being iable/i to go to sleep.

Silently, with just the soft creaking of his bed and the cracking of a joint or two, Sasori placed both feet on the floor and stood. Might as well give Deidara some peace and go see what those other fools were up to. With one last glance at his partner, he headed for the door and quietly stepped out.

And once out, he made his way down the hall and to the stairs, pausing for a moment before starting down them. Eh, there was always the television, and he could hear Kakuzu and Hidan arguing about the last of the popcorn from all the way where he was. Maybe he could also find that book again, or some other piece of literature to occupy his time with incase the idiots watching the television were watching something really stupid.

The crystal blue orbs were once again visible when Sasori left the room. He had been quietly dozing off, but was disturbed by the closing door. He sighed, turning over to face his partner's bed. There was little point in sleeping on his arm if the puppet wasn't even there. Though now…he wasn't very tired. He reached under his bed a pulled out his rucksack. Maybe there was something in there he could mess around with. A few stale pieces of food, his wallet and a few books were all that lay in there. He took one out. 'Harry Potter?' he blinked, reading the title. How the hell did that get in there? He looked up at the ceiling, trying to recall the reason why the book was in his bag. Ah yes. This was Tobi's birthday present from a year ago. Deidara had just "forgotten" to give it him and instead given him a bomb. How thoughtful. Well…reading about witches and wizards was better than nothing, so he began to read the book, absently.

Well, of course, they iwere/i watching something stupid. If the red head had to guess, he'd say it was one of those soap operas. How the hell any of those three could istand/i to watch those things... He didn't know.

Hell, they'd never be taken serious again if word of such things got out to the villages... Sasori sighed from his spot, leaning against the door way of the livingroom. At least isomething/i was going on, however; the pretty much empty bowl of popcorn sat on the floor, and Kakuzu was pretty much on top of the poor platinum blond Hidan, strangling him. 'Course, Zetsu was sitting as far from the chaos as possible, though he was watching the bowl hungrily. As if deciding bringing the wrath of those two other fools upon him was worth stealing it.

The puppet hurriedly made his way over to the bookshelf, grabbed a book at random, then made a quick retreat out of the room before any of the three took notice of him. He didn't really want to get mixed up in their... Tch. iWhatever/i the hell that could be called.

Looking down to the book in his hand, he was dismayed to find that it was a book of fairytales. Why... The... iHell/i there was a book of fairytales in that damn bookshelf was anyone's guess, but he'd just assume it belonged to Tobi or Deidara.

But... It icould/i give him ideas for his puppets. So it probably wasn't that much of a bad pick.

It seemed that the book on the boy who lived acted as good as any sleeping pill. The blond had managed to fall asleep, the book lying over his face. But when he turned over, it fell on the floor loudly. Almost waking him up. Almost. He was far too wound up in his dream. The evil Itachi and his gang of followers, Hidan and Kakuzu were going around killing everyone and eating their souls. So it was up to Deidara and his companion, Tobi, to stop them from taking over the world. But Tobi wasn't allowed to use a magic wand. Mainly because he had broken far too many beforehand. What a fun dream. Wait…what was this? His skin was flaking away and being replaced with something smooth and hard. Wood? He whimpered in his sleep, holding out his arms as protection. He tried screaming, but nothing came out. He looked around frantically for Tobi or someone who could help him. Though, when trying to move, he was prevented by something…or someone. A thin piece of metal suddenly appeared before the sculptor's, now wooden face. The blue eyes were drawn to the end of the blade, and widened when he saw the owner. Deidara sat up, his eyes wide and beads of sweat running down his cheeks. He stared at his hands, shaking. They weren't wood…it was a nightmare. No…a daymare. He rested his head in his hand, trying to get that thought out of his mind. Sasori wouldn't really try to turn him into a puppet…would he?

The kitchen wasn't the best place to read. He didn't want to chance going back to the room he shared with Deidara, incase he might wake the blond up, assuming he was asleep. The living room... Was a place he was going to avoid for a while. The washroom... Nah. The puppeteer stopped infront of the door to the basement, then shrugged. What the hell, it was quiet down there. And barely anyone went into the basement for any length of time, anyway. To his knowledge.

Plus he wanted to check on the puppet 'corpse' set-up down there. Sasori opened the door, closing it behind him when he started down the stairs carefully. With only a glance over to the so-called dead body, he quickly made a turn and settled himself down underneath the stairs. And then he opened the book to a random page and frowned.

Pinocchio. He was instantly reminded of that argument with the blond. After quickly skimming over the story, he got the gist of it, not like he didn't already know; guy creates puppet. Puppet comes to life. Puppet does some random crap and wants to become a real boy. Puppet succeeds. The red head made a face - he was inot/i like this fool; the only thing in common was that they were both living puppets. But! He was a real boy who turned himself into a puppet; not a puppet who turned into a real boy. And he didn't desire to become real any time soon, either.

Maybe the idiot really was an... Well, idiot.

Deidara was finding getting back to sleep to be quite a challenge. That dream had really worried him. Instead he was reading Harry Potter again, trying his best to keep his mind off that terrifying vision. And…to be honest, it was working pretty damn well. Though, whenever his mind began to wonder back to him being made of wood, he started reading out loud. Slowly. He wasn't very good at that. He looked over at the clock and blinked, quite surprised. It was already lunchtime, yet he wasn't in the least hungry. Seeing as all he had to eat all day was leftovers from last night's dinner, this was pretty surprising. He eventually grew tired of the book, chucking it on the floor and lay back on his bed. Why had he dreamt about something like that? Something that sick and twisted. And he really wanted to find out if he could've stopped Itachi from taking over the world. What a shame. It suddenly occurred to the blond that it was completely silent in the room. Wait… He got up and went to the window. Heh. Looked like the rain had finally stopped. Meaning he could go into the village with Sasori. When the puppet decided to reappear.

After skimming over a few more of the tales within the book, Sasori found himself growing steadily bored again. These were all children's stories - hell, his igrandmother/i read a few of the vile things to him when he was still of flesh and blood. And that was a very damn long time ago.

Snapping the book shut, the puppet stood. With one last glance over at the supposed corpse, he was on his way back up the stairs and to the livingroom. Though he paused before entering the livingroom. It sounded like Kakuzu and Hidan were arguing about something stupid iagain/i. He sighed irritably, turning and headed for the stairs leading upwards. Tch, the book had good illustrations he could look off of, anyway...

Hopefully Deidara was still asleep. Then he would see the red head carrying the book with him, and wouldn't get any silly ideas.

He was quick to ascend the stairs, and was almost to the door of his and the blond's room, but he paused at the window and glanced out, smiling eerily. The rain had ceased. iGood/i. He could get out of the insane house for a while... With his partner, of course. After he stashed the book away.

The blond, opened the window and leant out, his arm hovering in the air, checking that the rain had actually stopped. He was about to start waving his hand around when a large drop of water landed on his head. Deidara squealed at the coldness and pulled his arm in. He pouted, slinking back over to his bed. 'Stupid rain,' he muttered. He glanced down at the book he had been reading earlier and wondered if he should go give it to Tobi. No. Tobi certainly didn't deserve it. Plus, giving him a present would result in making the masked fool think the sculptor wanted to be friends with him. As if. Instead, he picked the book up again and shoved it back in his bag. He'd probably read it another time. The blond carried on searching through his bag, hoping to find some more long lost treasures. He then paused when he heard the footsteps coming closer. He smiled to himself, hoping it was Sasori.

The puppet closed the space between him and the door, pausing for a moment and stuffing the book he held up one of his sleeves. Just incase the blond was woken up or awake when he went in. If he had the means to blush embarassedly at several things he could come up with that could be assumed if he was spotted with the book by ianyone/i, he most likely would have.

He opened the door, entering the room, then closed it behind him before peering over at Deidara. Thank Kami for planning ahead; he iwas/i awake... Sasori said nothing, starting for his bed, intent on discretely hiding the fairytale book away before something disasterous happened. Like, for example, what idid/i happen.

The red head thought he had the book shoved up his sleeve good enough so that it wouldn't fall. He thought wrong - it idid/i fall, landing on the floor when he was just a few feet from the doors with an, in his opinion, deafening crack of hard cover hitting hard floor. Which immediately caused him to freeze in mid-step, looking down at the thing as if it were some sort of hideous insect. Great.

Deidara looked up when he heard the door open. Yay! He had heard Sasori. He smiled at him in a friendly manner before carrying on looking through his bag. So far, the best thing he had found were his keys, which had been lost for God knows how long. The sculptor's searching was cut short when he heard his partner's book clatter onto the floor, causing him to jump a little. He lifted his head and peered over to see what had made the noise. He sniggered a little, very quietly. Though, no doubt the puppet had heard him. He chose not to comment on his partner's strange choice of reading material. He'd save that for later when he needed some form of defence. Instead, he tipped everything out of his bag, spreading the contents out on his bed. Damn. He'd forgotten that there was food in there. Meaning that most of the contents and his bed were now covered in crumbs. Hmph, he'd clean up later. Whilst scanning what had fallen out of his bag, the blond spotted his nail polish bottle. 'YAY I FOUND IT!' he cried, picking it up and carefully unscrewing the lid. His nails badly needed to be re-painted. Actually…only around three of his fingers had nail polish left on them.

Indeed, he had heard the blond's quiet sniggers. Sasori merely shot a chilly glare at Deidara before quickly bending down and snatching the book off the floor and heading over to his workstation - no sense in hiding it, now. Though, he was slightly relieved that the sculptor didn't make any snide comments, but he was mentally vowing much discomfort if he ever brought the subject up amongst any of the other guys.

The puppet gladly left the fool to... Whatever he was doing, settling down in the corner where he worked on his puppets and cracking the book open, once more to a random page. Hm... That fairy looked pretty; she'd make a good-

The exclaimation of 'YAY I FOUND IT!' cut through the puppeteer's thoughts like a hot knife through butter. He looked up and over at his partner again, staring blankly at him until he noticed the bottle of nail polish that was being oh-so carefully opening. Tch, what a thing to be so damn excited over... "Do you need to be so loud, Deidara?" He mumbled quietly, not truly looking for an answer as he turned back to the book. Now... If he were to make a puppet with wings, he could make them razor sharp... But he'd have to figure out how he'd get them to work like actual wings. Hm.

Hearing the puppet tell him off for being a little too loud, Deidara looked down sadly. 'Sorry, Danna,' he mumbled, much quieter, getting on with re-polishing his nails silently. When that was done, he placed the bottle down on his bedside table, blowing his nails to dry them. He was quite interested in what Sasori was actually using that book for. He got to his feet and made his way over to his partner's workstation. He looked at the book, which was upside down from his view and beamed. 'Are you gunna make a fairy puppet?' he asked. Ah. Maybe Sasori was using the book to make puppets. He wasn't just reading it. Thankfully. He moved back a little, holding his arms behind his back, awaiting an answer. He would've gone around to look at the book properly, but the feeling of having someone reading over your shoulder wasn't a particularly pleasant one. Though…the puppet couldn't feel…right? Still, the blond made no action to move. 'Peter Pan had a fairy. She made others fly. That could be useful, un,' he said absently.

Sasori had been too into his thoughts to hear the apology. Or to notice that Deidara had finished with his nails and had approached to investigate what he was doing with the book until the blond said something. He looked up as the sculptor moved back, wondering for a moment how he was going to answer before shrugging. Wouldn't hurt to tell.

"Yes." Was the simple, monotonous answer he gave to the inquiring fool, looking back to the book for a moment. 'Til the blond started rambling off about that Peter Pan fairy chick - which made the puppeteer blink slowly, his mind taking the words and flying with them. Pun intended.

A fairy that could make others fly. A fairy puppet that could be used for flight. The only thing was, said puppet would have to be made out of light materials, and it would have to have a big wingspan, but... It was probably possible, and probably the first usable thing he'd ever heard his partner suggest. Not like he'd admit it - he merely nodded, acknowledging the idea, before smiling slightly. "I'm sure you're aware that the rain has died down. We should go to the village soon." He now had a larger shopping list than before.

After his question was answered, maybe a little too simply, Deidara wandered off back to his bed. It seemed like Sasori had taken what he had said about Peter Pan into account. Well, that was certainly a first. The blond nodded when the puppet suggested that they should go into the village. What did he need? Oh, yes. Paint and a visit to the doctor's. He shuddered a little, hoping that his partner hadn't made his arm worse than it was to begin with. Urgh, what if it had to be amputated or something. No…his injury wasn't that serious. He went over to his box and took out a bit of clay, moulding it into the shape of a bird. He wouldn't really mind walking to the village, but flying was more enjoyable. Plus, Deidara didn't really want his feet to get all wet. He'd wait until he was outside to make the bird larger. He then moved over to his bed and started putting everything back into his bag, small crumbs falling onto the floor. Discreetly, the blond swept the stale food under his bed. It wouldn't bother anyone if it was out of view, would it?

After a moment of watching the blond prepare to go, Sasori closed the book and placed it to one side before standing. Well, since he was going to be picking up a lot of stuff, he had a good reason to bring along his favourite puppet. If only because it could carry it all.

He stepped over to the closet where he kept Hiruko, opening the door and leading said non-living puppet out. Pausing for a moment, he pondered whether or not to wear it, or just make it seem like a third 'person'. Or better yet, he could leave it in the room and just take a scroll to summon it with when he wanted it.

With a slight shrug, he put it on, arms and legs in their correct positions, face hidden behind the obscured one of Hiruko. Then he made his way over to his bed, nabbing his hat off the little desk beside it and placing it on his head. He looked over to Deidara, before starting to make his way to the door, where he'd wait until his partner was ready to go.


	7. Chapter 7

Deidara began contemplating taking his rucksack with him. It was already quite heavy and by the time they arrived at the village his shoulder probably be rendered useless too. He didn't want to risk that, so he took his wallet and shoved it in his pocket. It then occurred to him, he'd probably have to wear his cloak too…bah, it was probably dry by now. It would be cold outside and going out without a jumper or something would be silly. But all of the blond's jumpers were in the wash…never to be cleaned. Ever. He kept his bird in his hand and also headed for the door. 'I need to get my cloak from the washroom before we go,' he announced. He didn't really like Hiruko. It looked a little scary. Though…that was probably the whole point. Yeah, using a puppet as armour was pretty cool, but it could at least look a bit more friendly. The thought of puppets quickly lead back to his previous dream and he shuddered. Think about something else…bugs. Yeah. Bugs are nice. 

The puppet-in-a-puppet silently went over his little shopping list in his head, adding 'The Ring 2' to the list. Hey, might as well - the first part was watched last night. Plus, it was mildly amusing to see Deidara get all scared at night due to a movie. And to make sure the blond didn't know it was he who got it - he'd get it when he wasn't looking, then put it somewhere where Tobi would find it.

Sasori grinned at the evil little plan forming in his head, before nodding at the sculptor's announcement. "I'll wait for you at the front door." He opened the door and left the room, leaving it open for his partner - not seeing said blond shudder at some sort of memory or other. Which was probably a good thing, because then he would have asked.

The red head frowned slightly as he remembered something. The only thing he didn't quite like when he was in Hiruko. Stairs. It wasn't like he had any trouble with them, they just weren't his most favourite things in the world.

Deidara quickly closed the door behind him and scurried down the stairs ahead of Sasori. He'd probably get to the front door before his partner. Yes. That would be his aim. He headed down the corridor towards the washroom. His cloak probably wasn't dry. This, in effect would cause him to get a cold. Feh, whatever. He was going to the doctor's wasn't he? He'd be absolutely fine. Maybe suggesting for spare cloaks from Sir Leader would be a good idea. Once in the washroom, he noticed that his other clothes were still lying out, waiting to be washed. Perhaps setting them to wash would be another good idea. It took plenty of time for him to figure out how much washing powder to use and how long to set the washing machine to work for. Thankfully, the machine didn't start leaking bubbles and he grinned smugly. So he wasn't completely useless. With that, he grabbed his damn cloak and exited the room, tugging it on, doing the buttons up as he went.

Sasori watched Deidara scurry past, reluctantly reminded of one of the stories in that book. One about a hare and a tortoise or something - not a ifairy/itale, but it had been there... He shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts as he reached the damnable stairs.

Of which he glared down before descending carefully, but at a good pace. He was downstairs in less than two minutes, at least, and continuing on his steady pace for the front door. He could istill/i hear Hidan and Kakuzu arguing in the livingroom - this time about the remote for the television - and he swore he could hear both of Zetsu's personalities cheering one or the other on.

And then he heard a thump. Hidan's profanity-shouting head rolled out of the living room, right into the red heads path. The two stared at each other for a moment, before the puppeteer grabbed the Jashinist's head by the hair - much to his displeasure - and headed over to the basement door.

Kakuzu appeared in the livingroom doorway in time to see the puppet toss the immortal's head down the basement stairs and continue on his merry way to the frontdoor.

Deidara had been very much playing the role of the hare. Though he stopped to watch Sasori pick up and chuck Hidan's severed head down into the basement. It was at times like that, he was glad that parts of his body wouldn't just fall off. It always seemed to amaze him how many people in Akatsuki were actually "normal". Bar him, only Itachi and Tobi were "normal". But Tobi was slightly deformed after being crushed by the boulder. And Sasori used to be human, but that didn't count. The blond was by now, leaning against the from door, patiently waiting for his partner. He started flexing his hand, seeing if his arm would hurt. Though, unfortunately, it did. He let out a little whine and clutched his throbbing arm. The visit to the doctor's was instantly sent to the top of his to-do list. The sculptor then began to wonder what would happen if he lost the ability to use his arm. Now, that would be a disaster. Sure, he'd be able to mould clay and make his creations explode, but he wouldn't be able to use hand signs. It then dawned on him how dependent he was on his precious arms. Yes. He'd look after them as if they were his children.

Kakuzu made his way over to the top of the basement stairs, about to go fetch the idiot Jashinist's head so that he could sew it back on again. However, due to a blood-curdling scream from said albino immortal, the greedy man rethunk doing that, then quickly made his way back into the livingroom. At least he wouldn't have to fight anyone for the remote.

Sasori grinned slightly at the scream from below. Seemed like Hidan had seen his little set-up... Though it was odd for him to scream because of a dead body. Perhaps he landed somewhere where something gouged out one of his eyes, instead.

The puppet chuckled to himself before finally reaching the front door. Of course, Deidara had beaten him there. Then again, being in Hiruko cut his speed down drastically if he was trying to stay concealed, so it was only logical. "Ready to go?" He peered at the blond, then frowned slightly. That arm seemed t be bothering him again. Tch, he didn't need the blond accidentally falling off of one of his clay birds or anything due to it. "Perhaps you should go take another painkiller before we set off."

The scream coming from the basement made the exploding artist jump. Was that really Hidan? He was beginning to get a little curious at what could've scared him so much. Pah, he'd go investigate later on. When Sasori finally arrived, the blond nodded at his question. Of course he was ready…wait…painkillers did sound like a good idea. 'Nah, I'll survive, un,' he stated, pulling his injury up through the sleeve. Doing that would prevent him from using it. He was tempted to stick his arm out through the front of his cloak as an imitation of Itachi. No doubt it would come back and whack him in the face. Word spread pretty quickly in this home away from home. He opened the door and walked out, holding it open for his partner politely. Hm. By the looks of things it would probably start raining again soon. Umbrellas would be a good idea as well. He'd just have to avoid puddles and very big trees if he wanted to stay as dry as possible.

The puppet gave the blond a skeptical look that couldn't exactly be seen, all things considered. Tch, whatever - the idiot could take care of himself. And if by chance he ididn't/i survive, for whatever reason...

Sasori stopped those thoughts there. He would inot/i turn Deidara into a puppet under any circumstances unless they were utterly idrastic/i. He shuffled out the held-open door, cringing inwardly at how wet the outside still was. It looked like he'd probably have to add 'oil' to his oh-so 'little' shopping list... Tsk.

He really hoped Kakuzu's credit was okay. He also hoped the mentioned ragdoll of a man didn't mind him using it. Though, of course he would. Eh... He'd just blame it on Hidan. Or Tobi.

Pausing for a moment, he looked back at the blond, wondering if he was going to follow on foot or fly.

As if answering Sasori, Deidara took out his pre-made bird and chucked it onto the ground, millimetres away from quite a large puddle. He had learnt from past experiences that his sculptures were ruined if they got wet. They caused weak, petty explosions. He pulled his bad arm up through his sleeve again, slowly doing hand signs until the bird started to grow larger. Once it had finished growing, the blond climbed up onto his sculpture, sitting down cross-legged, pulling his arm back inside his cloak. It had then occurred to him that with Sasori inside Hiruko it would take…quite a long time for them to arrive at the village. 'You can come on too, un,' he offered quietly. Hm…maybe he was being overly nice. But then again. He had told his partner he wanted to be friends with him. 'If you want to,' he added. He'd have to make the bird just a little bigger if the puppet in a puppet decided to take up the offer. This ride was only built for one.

After watching the non-verbal answer to his question, Sasori rolled his eyes and smirked slightly. He should've guessed that Deidara was going to be flying. After all, it seemed to pretty much be his main mode of transportation, or something. The puppet looked back out infront of himself, plotting the best course - through the trees. It wouldn't be as wet as the ground, if he picked his trees well - hmm?

He looked back at hearing the offer, taking a moment to consider it. The puppeteer wasn't exactly all that fond of flying - a good drop was probably one of the few things that could successfully smash the container with the only living part of him within and thus, well, kill him. However, it would save them both a lot of time. And it would be dryer. Plus, the blond was... Nice... To offer.

"Fine." He shuffled around so that he was properly facing the sculptor and the clay bird. Although, he was wondering how he would actually fit on that thing. It didn't look big enough for two.

Hm. He'd have to make the bird have a larger back and wingspan. Back to let the two passengers sit down more comfortably, wingspan to be able to fly easier whilst carrying both of them. Deidara quickly hopped off the bird, digging into one of his pouches for some clay to use to make the bird that much bigger. Ah…this would be fun with only one arm. He stuck some clay onto both wings and onto the back. Sadly, he had to pull his arm out yet again. Joy joy joy. Perhaps it would've been a better idea to make a new sculpture altogether…hn, nevermind. Once his sculpture had finished its mutation, the blond made it kneel down for Sasori to get on. He also began planning the route. Above the trees was a good idea. It would be much dryer. And it would give the two a better view of where they actually were. Though…he probably wouldn't be allowed to do any crazy airborne stunts if his partner was with him…

The puppet in a puppet watched with veiled interest as Deidara modified the artificial avian. Sasori had to admit - albeit to himself - that the blond's art, while simple and usually not long lasting, and thus defying the meaning of art, was effective and useful. And quick. Though when the sculptor had to use his injured arm, it occured tot he red head that he probably should have walked.

... Tsk, too late inow/i. Once the bird was low enough for him to get on, he shuffled over and did so with little difficulty. Then he looked over at his partner, waiting for him. If the puppet had feelings, he figured he'd probably be feeling anxious. Jittery. For obvious reasons. Thankfully, that wasn't and could never - or so he hoped - be the case.

For the moment, he busied himself with going over his little shopping list... Again. Light wood, bedsheet, two or four sheets of metal, books... iMaybe/i something for the blond other than literature if he was 'feeling' nice.

Deidara climbed back up onto the bird with Sasori. He was actually quite happy with how his sculpture had turned out and the amount of space he had created. Maybe it would be a good idea to make his form of transportation this size more often. Though…controlling it might be a bit more of a challenge. The clay model stood up and slowly started flying upwards into the air. The blond decided that, it might give Sasori a better chance of holding on if it didn't fly that fast. Hm…handles would be a good idea. Well…he'd make something to help if he was asked. Once properly airborne, Deidara sat down. He didn't really need to stand up to see where they were going. He'd just peep over the side if he though they were over the village. The sculptor held his arms out happily. 'Isn't this fun, un?' he asked, his partner, giggling.

'Holding on', Sasori was beginning to notice, was something he did best. Aside of puppetry. As soon as the bird started to take to the air, even if it iwas/i slowly, the puppeteer dug his hands into it, to some extent. Fourtunately, his cloak hid this, so if by chance Deidara looked back, he wouldn't notice his apparent apprehension.

The red head couldn't help but watch the blond a little uneasily at his display of carefree behaviour once they were actually in the air. All the worst-case scenarios were prodding his mind unmercifully, as they usually do when it came to those who didn't exactly like being airborne. Like... What if a real bird made a collision with the sculptor's head and knocked him out? Those kinds of pretty much impossible, albeit morbidly amusing, things.

Thus at the question, the puppet pretty much just 'hnn'd and muttered, "... Sure..." He found making puppets, making people into puppets, and tormenting several choice people fun. Not flying - unlike the blond, who apparently liked it. A lot.

Oblivious to the fact that Sasori wasn't too enthusiastic about the whole flying thing, the blond grinned. Yay, finally something they agreed on. Well…so he thought. He turned back to look at his partner, grinning away. 'Maybe it would be easier if we went by bird on all our missions,' he suggested. At least he was in his puppet armour. Otherwise he'd be showered with questions. And just at that moment, out of nowhere a bird flew into Deidara's head. But it didn't knock him out. It just…well…scared him. 'EEE! GET IT OFF GET IT OFF, UN!' he cried, flailing his arm around wildly, protecting himself and trying to his best to hit the bird. This was failing seeing as his eyes were screwed shut. Once he managed to grab the bird, he put it down on the head of his sculpture and flicked it off. 'Stupid bird,' he muttered, pouting and ridding himself of a few fallen feathers. 'I nearly had a heart attack, un.'

The puppet merely stared incredulously at the blond, albeit from behind the glassy and expressionless face of Hiruko. Was Deidara suggesting they fly to get place to place when it came to missions? ... Ahahaha... iHell/i no! Albeit, he didn't vocalize his objections since it might hint at his growing dislike of being so damn high, but he did vow to make up iany/i excuse that he could when it came to staying grounded.

The red head was sure the world was ending when the stray bird came into the proverbial picture. He let out a rather un-Sasori-like, startled yelp when the sculptor started yelling 'GET IT OFF' and flailing about, grip on the clay avian tightening... Lots. If he were flesh-and-blood, he probably would have fainted. Though, the puppeteer more-or-less regained his 'somewhat' shattered composure when the blond got rid of the vile, real, feathery, apparently blind and stupid bird.

Then, the puppet snorted. iHe/i nearly had a heart attack? HA! The red head starting snickering as if it were the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

Deidara was actually quite surprised at Sasori's little yelp. Once the vile, real, feathery, apparently blind and stupid bird had successfully made its way down to the ground (and its death), the blond shuffled around to look at his partner. 'You yelped,' he pointed out, sniggering away. Well…he was taking up the role of "Mr. Stater of the complete and utter obvious" at that moment in time. He began guessing at why the puppet had actually yelped. Was he scared of birds? Flying? Heights? Flailing, handicapped and rather shocked Deidaras? Come to think of it…the great Akasuna no Sasori wasn't meant to be afraid of anything. He was an emotionless puppet with no feelings whatsoever. Although…fear certainly is a feeling. Deidara reached out and tapped Hiruko's face. 'I knew you had feelings,' he giggled, before turning back around to carry on piloting the aircraft. He thought about adding some more cheeky little comments, but remained silent, still grinning to himself.

Sasori immediately ceased his snickering at the obvious statement coming from Deidara. Then promptly sent a chilly glare his way, even if it couldn't be seen right then. If the blond wasn't needed to keep the flying clay monstrosity in the air, the puppet probably would have thwapped him upside the head. "I did not," he protested, although he knew he did. Damnit, it was times like these that he wished the idiot was... Deaf, or something.

The red head inwardly growled. He'd have to come up with excuses to stay grounded, and he'd have to take care not to show anymore of his so-called emotions. Stupid sculptor and his stupid observations...

The puppet in a puppet twitched when his partner tapped Hiruko's face. Wait... What?! "I do inot/i have feelings," he stated slowly, both as if reassuring himself and talking to a child. Which he sometimes pretty much thought the blond was. A kid. "Idiot." Just to prove his point, he was going to be as callous towards the sculptor as he could.

The blond just winked, still grinning and turned back around. 'Whatever you say, Danna,' he giggled. Now he had something to hold against Sasori when he next decided to threaten to turn him into a puppet. Or he could just tell everyone if he felt the need to. Though that would most probably result in being forced to sleep on the sofa for a number of weeks. But it was still funny. Deidara leant down, hugging the bird sculpture's neck, scanning the ground below. Had they flown over the village? Surely they would've reached it by now. The sculptor carried on steering the bird in a circle before realising that they were directly above their destination. 'Land Ho!' he cried, before lowering the aircraft downwards in a circle. Deidara usually landed by jumping off the bird, though this would be harder with his partner on board as well. Hm…how could he do this? Shrugging, he made the bird fly faster as it neared the ground, its feet scraping on the grass in the process. Knowing the rough landing may end up throwing the puppet master off, the blond quickly got out some more clay, moulding it into two semicircle shapes and merging them into the larger sculpture. 'Hold them,' he commanded, before grabbing onto Hiruko, just in case the handles broke. He didn't really want Sasori to go flying off into a tree or something.

Continuing to glare at the blond for all he was worth, the red head decided not to comment. Fine, he yelped. Okay, he'd grudgingly admit it. But! He would inot/i admit to having feelings! If half the rant going through the puppet's head right then were vocalized, the sculptor would get an earful... Or more!

Sasori watched the blond idiot lean down and hug the clay bird's neck in order to look down. Damnit, he was so very itempted/i to pull Deidara back upright - in the puppet's opinion, he looked about ready to fall to one side and thusly off the damn thing...

Thankfully, that didn't happen. He blinked slowly when his partner said the words 'Land ho' - what, were they sailors now? But they were in the... Pfft, whatever. It was slightly relieving to be landing soon. At least it was for a moment, until the damn bird started to go faster. It was almost like a merry-go-round... Just not.

The puppeteer frowned when the sculptor made the semi-circular... Handles, if he had to guess. Hold them? He had a perfectly nice hold on the stupid bird already! Tch, the fool had better know what he was doing. Releasing said hold he had on the clay avian, he moved his vice-like grip to the semi-circular... Things. His frown deepened when the blond grabbed him - or at least Hiruko.

... He had a 'feeling' that he wasn't going to like landing.

Well, the landing wasn't graceful as such. More…sudden. The bird dug its feet into the ground, in effect coming to an instantaneous halt. It must've hit a rock or something as there was a distinctive cracking sound coming from underneath the sculpture. He sort of fell forward too. Hm…maybe the feet had broken off. Deidara slid off the side of the bird. His landing was much more graceful than the bird's. Once again, he was millimetres away from a puddle. Better warn Sasori about that. The sculpture lowered itself onto the ground waiting for the puppet to dismount. 'Are you okay, Danna?' he asked his partner. Well…it looked like the handles had been a success. They hadn't broken, which was quite a good thing. And Sasori hadn't fallen off either. Perhaps practicing proper landings could be added to his to-do list… He moved a little bit further away from the puddle. 'There's a puddle here, so watch you don't step in it,' he warned.


	8. Chapter 8

Well, the landing wasn't graceful as such. More…sudden. The bird dug its feet into the ground, in effect coming to an instantaneous halt. It must've hit a rock or something as there was a distinctive cracking sound coming from underneath the sculpture. He sort of fell forward too. Hm…maybe the feet had broken off. Deidara slid off the side of the bird. His landing was much more graceful than the bird's. Once again, he was millimetres away from a puddle. Better warn Sasori about that. The sculpture lowered itself onto the ground waiting for the puppet to dismount. 'Are you okay, Danna?' he asked his partner. Well…it looked like the handles had been a success. They hadn't broken, which was quite a good thing. And Sasori hadn't fallen off either. Perhaps practicing proper landings could be added to his to-do list… He moved a little bit further away from the puddle. 'There's a puddle here, so watch you don't step in it,' he warned.

The cracking sound, to say the least, only served to cause the puppet to tighten his grip on the handles, even after the clay bird came to a stop. It didn't exactly sound like cracking wood, per se, but... Well, it was, in Sasori's not-so-humble opinion, damn close enough.

He watched as Deidara slid off the bird, his mind taking it's sweet time to catch up with him. The puppet blinked several times at the question, pretty much forcing himself to let go of the handles as he considered answering with a 'Hell no, idiot'. Instead, he muttered a "Yes." ... Well, he iwas/i in once peice. Albeit he wasn't ever going to go flying with the blond again, even though, looking back, it hadn't been that bad. But, 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks' or successfully introduce them to new things, and all - it apparently went for old man-puppets, too.

The red-head took note of the blond's warning about the puddle as he dismounted from the bird as quickly as he could. While in Hiruko, anyway, which really wasn't exactly iquick/i at all. He ended up landing just an inch away from the puddle, glancing over to it passivlely. Even if he had by chance landed in it anyway, he probably wouldn't care. He was simply happy to be back on the ground. "Hn... Deidara."

The blond giggled a little as he watched his partner slowly get off the bird. He would've offered him some help, but it seemed he was coping. God, it must've been so annoying to travel around in such amour. The sculptor didn't really see the point of it… As soon as Sasori was safely on the ground, the clay bird started to shrink back to its original size - no larger than a budgie. It quickly flew off into the air and exploded. Deidara pouted. 'I wanted that,' he mumbled, watching as the debris hit the ground a little way away from the Akatsuki pair. Of course, he could've added it to his endless collection of clay birds he didn't want to blow up…nevermind. The sculptor began walking in the direction of the village, going over what he wanted to buy. He had enough money…maybe he could buy a cushion to strap to his injured arm and protect it from further damages. Hopefully it wasn't too serious. He stopped when he heard his name being mentioned by the puppet master. 'Un?' he asked, looking over at him.

The puppet internally cringed when the bird shrunk, flew off, then exploded. Damnit, are was supposed to last iforever/i and there his partner went, contradicting the red-head's truth again. Eugh... Thankfully, he wasn't in the mood to argue... Verbally, at any rate, though mentally, he was berating the sculptor.

Tch - if the blond had wanted that, why did he let it fly off and explode? Sasori shook his head. Sometimes, Deidara confused him... Then again, if what they said about blonds was itrue/i...

Shaking his head, the puppeteer moved to follow his partner, stopping when he stopped. "Hn... When we get to the village, it would be more efficient time-wise for us to split up. We should designate a meeting place." ... That, and the unspoken reason that he didn't want the fool to see what he was buying. He didn't really want to hear any complaints or anything when he got to the 'book' part of his little shopping list, and if by chance he idid/i want to be nice - well, he wanted it to be a surprise.

The sculptor nodded in agreement. 'Okay, un,' he said happily. Yeah, that was a good idea. Sasori would probably much rather go do his own shopping than hang around, waiting for Deidara to get his arm fixed. Plus, when the blond went on his "little" art supply trips, he'd end up looking around the shop, taking millions of things off the shelves, putting half of them back due to lack of money, then upon the return home he wouldn't use the majority of what he had bought. It would just be there for him to say he had it. He might as well buy a few Harry potter books as well. He was getting quite into Tobi's one. But he was a slow reader and in the time spent reading said book, he had managed to get halfway through chapter two. And if he had enough money left over he could buy some decent cereal, seeing as someone was constantly devouring all the good stuff. Maybe to prevent that from happening he should hide it under his bed and keep it all to himself. Selfish but effective.

Good, Deidara wasn't protesting or asking questions or any other such annoying thing... Sasori smiled slightly, then started to shuffle along in his ever-so-slow pace. "Let's meet at the inn when we're ready to go back." Cliche, he knew. But it would be a good place to meet up, supposing they stayed too late and the sculptor ended up getting too tired to, in the puppet's opinion, fly safely.

And then the puppeteer's thoughts returned to shopping, trying to remember what stores Kakuzu had credit in. Tch, perhaps he should henge as someone - like Tobi - so that if 'Mister Stitches' went about inquiring as to what the hell happened to said credit... All signs would point to the idiot masked man. And it isn't like Kakuzu would listen to excuses coming from that imbecile.

The red head chuckled evilly at the thought. Yes, as soon as he and the blond parted ways, he'd disguise himself as the masked dumbass... Maybe make it so that his status in the village was 'Wanted Criminal', too...

Deidara had already begun to run ahead as Sasori suggested the meeting point. Though he heard him. 'Okay! See you later, un!' he called, waving. Come to think of it, if the blond happened to bump into his partner whilst in the village, disguised as Tobi, he probably run home without him… Upon entering the surgery, the sculptor made a quick exit after seeing the amount of people in the waiting room. Perhaps going to the bookshop first would be better than sitting around for God knows how long. Heck, maybe the queue would've thinned by the time he was finished. But it seemed Deidara's status was recognised in the bookshop. The woman behind the counter told him he didn't have to pay, but the blond insisted he did. It was only until he was out in the street again did he realise how silly that move had been. He pouted in disappointment. He could've saved a lot of money… He slunk back to the surgery, still feeling pretty darn stupid. Luckily, this time around, there weren't many people waiting at the doctors.

The puppet grunted, waiting until Deidara was out of sight before making his merry way into an alley. Where, smiling evilly, he did the needed handseals. "Henge no Jutsu!" And ipoof/i. Where Sasori in Hiruko had been seconds ago, stood the bumbling idiot Tobi. Or at least, the puppet disguised as said idiot.

The disguised red-head quickly made his way towards the one shop he frequented - the craft store. Full of everything the aspiring artist would need. In his case, wood. And four sheets of metal. Thankfully, no one in the store knew who Tobi was - or else they probably wouldn't have let him take one step into the store. And luckily, Kakuzu idid/i have credit in there.

After getting the stuff he needed and using Mister Stitches credit to purchase it, he left the craft store. Now it was time to find a new bedsheet. Which would most likely be in the clothing and linen... Fabric shop. Half way across the village.

Damn, it was a good thing he couldn't get tired.

A while later Deidara was waiting for Sasori, sitting on the steps of the inn. He had resorted to looking through his new arty stuff seeing as it would be rather difficult to read using one hand. His damaged arm was by now, bandaged up very thoroughly and tightly. So much so that he couldn't actually feel it anymore. The puppet's little first aid performance turned out to be…well…maybe not the right thing to do, but it had helped. Perhaps he'd have to lay off fighting during missions and sparring for a little while. Which was sadly not very pleasing for the blond, but he did want to get better as quickly as possible. The sculptor began to read the blurb of the second Harry Potter book, thus spoiling the first just a little bit. But this didn't occur to him. He was too busy paying attention to the pretty pictures on the back. Aw, a castle in the clouds. That sort of reminded him of Jack and the Beanstalk. Hm…maybe that was in Sasori's fairytale book too.

Wood? Check. Four sheets of metal? Check. Luckily, Kakuzu had credit in the fabric shop, too - so, bedsheets? Check. And his arms were getting quite full. Looked like he wouldn't be able to go around causing mayhem and getting the idiot masked boy into trouble. Tsk, oh well.

Now lessee, what was next? Books - he'd probably have to go find out the blond's interests other than the obvious; clay and things that go boom, and... Sasori paused in mid-step just outside of a toy shop, peering over at it and frowning consideringly. Hm. It was doubtful that Mister Stitches would have credit set up there... An evil grin alighted on the puppet's face as he entered unnoticed, lurking around for a short while before picking out a plush bird that looked suspiciously like the one that had collided with Deidara earlier. iPerfect/i.

He quickly fled the store, 'convieniently' forgetting to pay for the plush despite the shouting of the storekeep. Apparently they knew Tobi, too - he heard the fool's name shouted several times. Even imore/i perfect. He shoved the plush in the bag with the bed sheets and scurried towards the inn.

... Unfourtunately, he didn't take the time to unhenge in his hurry.

The shouts of anger from the toy shop keeper interrupted Deidara from his reading. Ah, Tobi running down the street. Obviously, he had stolen something. The blond dipped his head down again to carry on with his reading…Wait…Tobi? He looked up again, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Damn. He wasn't. Deidara didn't really want to hang around with the masked fool for the remainder of his stay. Hm…maybe he could hide himself… The blond started digging around in his shopping bag and took out a large piece of card, holding it in front of his face. Slowly, he began to get to his feet and shuffle away as discreetly as possible. Maybe not too discreetly, seeing as he earned himself a few odd stares in the process. He'd probably just wait around the corner for Sasori to arrive and try his best to stay out of Tobi's way. Although…the Akatsuki cloak he was wearing was just a slight giveaway. But enough to fool he who survived being crushed by a boulder. The sculptor began praying inwardly for his partner to hurry the hell up so they could go home.

Sasori spotted the inn, slowing his pace just islightly/i when he saw Deidara was there. Good! ... Wait, what the ihell/i was he doing? The puppet furrowed his brow, pausing for a second just to observe the rather... Comical scene of the blond trying to be... Discreet, or something. Who was he trying to fool?

... Waitaminute... Right, right, he still looked like Tobi. The masked fool look-a-like rolled his eyes, looking back to make sure the shopkeep hadn't decided to persue or get someone else to persue yet before heading straight for the sculptor.

Though he did consider messing with his partner's head while in the guise of a complete and utter idiot, he didn't think he'd have enough time. The shopkeep had quietened down - most likely filing a report or something. And considering he currently had his hands full - well... Perhaps saying something him-like would alert the blond fool as to his not ireally/i being Tobi. "Deidara! Stop making yourself look more like an idiot than you already are." ... At least the red-head damn well hoped he caught on.

Crap. He'd been spotted by the masked buffoon. Hm…maybe he could make him go away. 'I'm not Deidara!' he announced. Perhaps he should've tried to mimic someone else's voice to make his reply seem more plausible. But of course, whilst in a panic you don't really think about that sort of thing. That goes double for Deidara. Jeez. Since when did Tobi get so…demanding? The blond stole a glance at Tobi, before scurrying off. Wait…Wasn't Tobi's hand damaged from their earlier encounter? Neither of the mask's limbs were bandaged up in any shape or form. That and the point that the little snap from the masked fool was very un-Tobi-like. That tone used. He knew who it was now. 'Dannaaaa,' he whined, slinking over to his partner, an annoyed pout plastered over his face. Though…he was glad that it wasn't Tobi after all. And he had found Sasori. The pout changed to a grin. 'Did you get everything you wanted, un?' he asked happily.

... Not Deidara, huh? The puppet sighed irritably. Even the fool he was disguised as could probably do a better job at being inconspicuous... But then, when he thought about it, maybe not.

Tch, at least the blond eventually figured it out. Thankfully ibefore/i he fled, or whatever he had been going to do, as Sasori didn't 'feel' like chasing him down or anything. The disguised red-head stopped walking as the sculptor slunk over, and the puppet sort-of glared at him - although, unfourtunately, the effect was rather killed off by the whole mask thing. If he had ear drums, his partner's little whine would have probably given him a headache. "Yes. I did." Well, aside from the books. But if he wasn't hallucinating or anything, that had already been taken care of. Well. That was odd.

"Unless you have any further business here, we should leave. Now." To emphasize his statement, he looked back again, then started walking towards the village gates. Tsk, the shopkeep ihad/i gotten someone. A rather disgruntled looking 'nin was heading their way.

Well…the blond wouldn't've minded getting something to eat before they left the village. Ah, nevermind. He'd get something upon the arrival home. Oh! And then go and find out what was so scary in the basement. 'Yeah, I'm done, un,' he stated, beginning to follow his partner. Deidara didn't particularly want to walk all the way back to the Akatsuki hideout. But if Sasori wasn't prepared to fly, he would. Seeing as leaving him to walk home by himself was…well…rather rude. The puppet had offered for the blond to come along with him on his little shopping trip. And the sculptor was trying his best to be as friendly and considerate to his partner as possible. 'Do you wanna walk or go by bird, un?' he asked, inwardly expecting a definite "no". The sculptor blinked at his partner. Why the hell was he disguised as Tobi of all people?

"Good." They didn't need to be running around the village, avoiding police 'nins and the like. Perhaps he should've henged an Akatsuki cloak on, too, instead of just the idiot's normal clothing. But then people would probably start taking the organization for a joke.

Whatever, it wouldn't be difficult to lose their persuer. Sasori glanced over at Deidara, frowning at the rather stupid question. Walk or fly? Okay, so it wasn't itoo/i stupid, as he hadn't made his dislike of being so high itoo/i obvious, but still. "I'm going to walk." At least he didn't need to waste time thinking up any excuses.

He looked back infront of them and smiled slightly. The gates. Once they were passed those and a little on their way, he'd henge back. Looking like Tobi almost succeeded in making him feel dirty.

Urgh. But it was muddy…Of course, the cultured blond didn't voice his complaint. Damn, he really wanted to just build a bird anyway and fly off. No. He mustn't do that. He and Sasori were partners and that meant sticking together like glue. Heh, at least they got along better than other teams. Deidara was beginning to feel a little awkward talking to Sasori in the current form he was in. It was sort of…humiliating. Tobi was a babbling, bragging, blithering bonehead, whom many people wished didn't stay at the Akatsuki HQ. That place was for the organization members only. Not pending members. Well…Tobi wasn't exactly pending. He just assumed that when the next person left or died, he'd be allowed to join. Laughable. Thankfully the puppet ended his jutsu. Now that was better. The sculptor was still wondering about his partner's reason for transforming into ol'basketball head. 'Why were you disguised as Tobi?' he asked intently.

Of course, the puppet didn't much like the fact that it was muddy, either. Mud got into Hiruko's joints and was a bitch to scrape out - not to mention the whole cloak dragging along the ground thing - but... The other option wasn't too thrilling, either... At least not for him. Hell, he'd rather iswim/i! ... Well, maybe that was getting a little too drastic.

The red-head frowned at the question, and the way it was asked. But nonetheless, he might as well sate his partner's curiosity. He didn't need the sculptor to get any ideas or anything. Such a thing could be disasterous "I don't want Kakuzu to know who really used his credit, now, do I, Deidara?," Sasori inquired in his monotonous fashion, though the answer was quite obvious to anyone who knew the greedy man.

Though he had been going to leave it there, the puppeteer had a little more to say. "Fly if you want to." He didn't really want to listen to any whining or complaints that might come from the blond on the walk back.

Heh, clever. If Deidara hadn't brought any money along with him and ended up using Kakuzu's credit, he certainly wouldn't've thought up such a plan as to pose as someone else. Maybe it was just a little too farfetched for the bomber. 'No, you don't, un,' he giggled agreement. Now the blond had something to use against Sasori if threatens similar to the night before were used once again. Although he had a list of these little warnings, he didn't really make a habit of using them. Mainly because he was so fucking scared the puppet would end up ripping his head off or something. Well…maybe not something that violent…but still… To fly or not to fly. That was the conundrum, which was now whirring away in Deidara's brain. 'Nah, I'm okay,' he responded. No. He wouldn't fly. Unless it started to rain again. 'Coz then it would be bye-bye Danna!

"Right," Sasori needlessly confirmed, shuffling around a little puddle. Lot of good that did or would do, all things considered, as the ground they would wind up travelling over would probably get him wetter and dirtier than the mini-pool of water. Tch, maybe he should ignore his so-called fear and just... Nah. That would be, in the puppet's mind, admitting some sort of defeat. He ihad/i already said he was walking. Damn pride.

And, as it just occured to him, damn not having thought before speaking. He just gave the blond a little bit of blackmail information, for whatever purpose. Oh well... He didn't think the idiot would be smart enough to use it or even notice it. Ha.

Tch. To just slight disappointment on the red-head's part, Deidara was going to be walking, too, it seemed. There went peace. But at least it wouldn't be itoo/i dull. "Suit yourself," he mumbled, adding an ever-so-quiet, "Brat," seconds later. Which was what the blond was, in his opinion. A childish, idiotic, cute little-

Wait.

The puppet twitched. No, inot/i cute. No. Stupid runaway thoughts...

So, when they got back, Deidara would go get something to eat, he would then go and explore the basement…and then he could go through all the stuff he had bought. The blond's eye twitched a little when he heard his partner's little comment. "Brat"? In his mind, the term "brat" was only used to misbehaving, screaming children. He wasn't misbehaving. He was actually trying to be nice! And he wasn't screaming. Or a child for that matter. The name calling had certainly offended the artist. He put his shopping bag on the ground. Yes. Now he would fly. And aim to get Sasori very muddy in the process. As one of his palm mouths devoured the grey moulding matter, he moved to make a hand sign. Ow. No way! Deidara had been so overcome by annoyance he'd completely forgotten that his arm was rendered useless. He let out a groan of irritation as he picked up his shopping bag again. Damn…looked like he was walking whether he liked it or not…

The puppet didn't stop shuffling along as he noticed the blond stopped walking and put his bag down. Hm, so he had apparently heard the 'brat' thing. And got offended. Which hadn't been the red-head's aim, but...

He heard the irritated groan and the rustling of the bag as it was once more picked up. Apparently the sculptor had realized his current handicap again, and wasn't too thrilled. At least, that's what it seemed like to Sasori. Tch, now would probably be a good time to apologize... But there was a problem with that. The red-head was inot/i the type to apologize. Or at least not straight out, in an obvious manner.

Thus he stayed quiet. For a second, anyway. "Deidara, if you don't like how wet things are out here, you shouldn't stop walking." ... Ew. He sounded sort of like a nagging old hag. Which wouldn't be too off - he iwas/i old. Just not a hag.

Whatever. Deidara didn't speak to Sasori for the remainder of the journey home. It was too complicated. He just walked at a snail's pace behind him. Well, maybe not for the puppet in a puppet. Their current speed was probably as fast as he could go. But an ingenious idea had crept into the sculptor's head. Possibly not that ingenious to others, but to the blond it was. This idea was moved up to the top of his to-do list. Thank God he'd bought that card.

Upon the arrival, Deidara kicked off his shoes, which were now caked with mud and dashed upstairs. He would need a very long ruler, a pencil and two markers…and maybe some blue-tack. Placing the large piece of card in the centre of the room, he started drawing a large L shape from the bottom left-hand corner of it. Along the line going up the side of the card he had written the word "Progress." He then wrote his own name in a blue marker and Sasori's in a red marker at the bottom of the card. Once the graph was finished, the sculptor stood up, picking up his creation with him and stuck it on the wall next to the door. He stood back, admiring his plan, grinning away. This was going to be fun.

Wow. It was a miracle; Deidara had been iquiet/i the whole damn walk back home. Sasori found himself 'feeling' just a little worried - perhaps being called a brat insulted the blond more than the puppet initially thought. Which probably wasn't a good thing. Who knew what mischief he could get into when offended?

What mischief, indeed. The puppeteer watched his partner hurriedly get his shoes off and dash up the stairs. Three guesses where he wasn't going any time soon - first two didn't count. Instead, he focussed on more immediate matters. Such as, Hiruko.

Setting down the bags he carried, the red-head easily exited the non-living puppet, frowning when he could clearly see the state of it's cleanliness. The bottom of the cloak it wore was muddy as hell. He didn't even want to ithink/i of the leg and arm joints - at least not at the moment. Instead, he busied himself with getting the clothing item off of his favourite toy so that he could get it washed. Afterwards... He sighed. He'd ihave/i to go up to their shared room. One, to inspect and clean Hiruko; two, to get his stuff straightened out; and three, to make sure the blond wasn't doing anything stupid. Just not in that particular order.

After making a few minor adjustments to the graph, such as smiley faces, stars and swirls, Deidara had stuck the two markers on the wall as well. Even though his puppet friend may not agree to the idea, the blond was still going to go ahead with it. He then started unpacking his shopping bag, placing his new possessions into the cupboard neatly. He wasn't really in the mood for doing anything arty at that moment. He still had to go get some food and explore the basement. And maybe retrieve Hidan's severed head if it was still down there. He would do that as soon as he started off the graph. Which hopefully would be as soon as Sasori walked into the room. The blond shed his cloak carefully, trying not to hurt his arm again and hung it up on the wall. Hm…maybe he should ask his partner for some more of those painkillers. And then take some even if he was answered with a no.

iSlam/i. Click. Click. Sasori stepped back from the machine as it came to 'life'. It hadn't taken him long to get the dirty cloak off of Hiruko, and it took him less time to get to the washroom and shove said cloak into the machine along with a little sprinkle of that soap crap. Probably a little too... Well. Little. But whatever, as long as it got the job done.

And then he was on his way again, Hiruko shuffling along beside him, holding the bags. He passed the basement door, pausing a moment and listening - then smirking, when he heard a line of curses and threats directed at both Kakuzu and him, before stopping at the stairs. Ergh.

He made his puppet go up, first, so he could see what he was doing. And he was taking his sweet ole time, too - as much as the curiosity as to why Deidara went rather quickly up to their room was there, there was also the contrasting 'I probably don't want to know' factor.

Waiting around was making the sculptor that much hungrier. Feh, he'd explain the whole graph thing later. Damn…he'd forgotten to buy cereal…He let out a groan of irritancy at his lack of breakfast food. Nevermind. He wasn't exactly going to eat cereal as his rather late lunch, was he? So with that, he left the room and headed downstairs, not noticing his partner and his pet. Whilst passing by the basement, he heard Hidan grumbling away. Heh, might as well go help him out. He slowly walked down the stairs and opened the door, feeling for the light switch. As the room flooded with light his eyes were instantly drawn to the gruesome sight before him, which looked somewhat like a murder scene. All thoughts of being hungry and wanting to help the Jashinist out had been driven out of the Deidara's head in an instant. He turned the light back off again, slammed the door and ran back upstairs wailing away. By the time he had gotten back up to his room (less than a minute later) he was gasping for breath. Out of fear, lack of energy…and well…shock. He slammed the door to the shared bedroom, locked it tightly and slid down onto the floor, shaking madly with blue eyes wide.

The puppet hadn't noticed Deidara on his way to their room, either. He entered it moments after the blond left, making Hiruko deposit the bags on the floor by his bed before letting the non-living puppet stop at a rest. Then, he turned to close the door behind him.

Effectively noticing the graph. And giving it a strange look as he thus slowly closed the door as he was going to do, and stared at it. Only one thought graced his mind at the moment. 'What the ihell/i?' It looked sort of like something a kid would do. Then again... This was the sculptor that did this. And he was a kid. In the puppeteer's eyes.

Downstairs in the lonely, spooky basement, Hidan's head sat muttering and occasionally screeching curses. Curses which stopped when he heard someone coming down the stairs. iFINALLY/i someone was coming to get him! Or at least the most important peice of him! The rat that had made his head it's home was ITCHY. And he swore he could feel it poking his brain every so often.

When the light was turned on and he saw the blond artist, he nearly fucking icheered/i. Though when said blond turned the light back ioff/i and ran wailing back up the stairs iwithout/i him, slamming the door and thus leaving him there with a positively startled rat... Ah. Everyone's favourite Jashinist was royally pissed. "FUCKING DUMBASS! You're supposed to fucking PICK ME UP and iTHEN/i flee!" And then he launched back into another long, curse-filled rant. Which, miraculously, didn't phase his little rat friend.

Thankfully, Sasori had moved out of the doorway and over to his bed before his partner ran into the room, looking positively horrified. The puppet watched, wide-eyed, as the blond slammed and locked the door. What...

... Oh. Maybe he had gone down into the basement. He hadn't warned him about that yet. Or even worse. Maybe he got flashed by Tobi. Only one way to find out. "What happened?," he asked, though he didn't sound particularly interested.

the blond was now letting out tiny little whining noises as he was slowly coming back from a state of complete and utter shock. His teeth were stapling down his bottom lip, enough so to draw a red fluid from his skin. When questioned about his little journey to the basement, Deidara whined again, resting his face in his hand. 'The ring girl's in the basement,' he howled in response. 'And Hidan's head's being eaten by a rat!' He was then suddenly brought back to earth when one of the markers fell from the wall. Oh, yeah! The artist got up and wiped the blood from his mouth. How was he going to explain this? Danna, you're mean and I want to show you how mean…no…wait…maybe that wouldn't be too bad. 'Uhm…I dun like it when you're mean to me, so I wanna see how much you are mean…and nice,' he mumbled uneasily. He remembered having the graph and sticker chart treatment during his early childhood…and…it seemed to have worked. Maybe the sticker chart was a good idea too… He'd see how the graph would go down first.

The puppet's wide eyes closed a fraction when he mentioned the ring girl. Hadn't it been obvious the first night that that had been a puppet? Albeit a non-living one? Though the bit about Hidan's head being eaten by a rat caused Sasori to snicker. Brave rat... He had been about to explain the ring girl's presence in the basement, but stopped short when that one marker fell.

He watched Deidara stand and wipe the red stuff from his mouth. Blood? Tch, idiot bit himself, huh? The red head cocked his head to the side - the blond was just so damn easy to scare. And fun. He continued to be silent until the end of his partner's little explaination. Though he didn't quite see the point of it, or anything. Couldn't he tell how 'mean' and 'nice' he was to him through experience? "... Okay," the puppeteer started slowly. Might as well humour the sculptor. "Then what's that graph for, exactly?"

Wasn't it obvious? Deidara leant down and picked up the marker, biting off the lid. He pressed a large red blob in the centre of the vertical line to signify his partner's starting point. 'Ith ith oo, uh' he announced. Ah. The lid was still in his mouth. He re-capped the marker and placed it back on the wall. Damn, it sucked having only one arm. 'This is you, un,' he repeated, pointing to the blob. Yes…Sasori was a blob. He then moved to place another blob in the same point, this time in blue. 'This is me.' He was explaining it as if the puppet was some sort of retarded idiot…like Tobi. 'If you do something nice you go up. If you do something mean you go down,' he finished, nodding to himself. Perhaps it would be a good idea to buy more card to extend the graph vertically and horizontally. He didn't really want to be accused for graffiti.

Unblinkingly watching the fool of a blond, Sasori rose a brow. Ith... Ith... Oo? Okay... Obviously, he understood the sentence a whole lot better when the sculptor repeated it without the marker cap in his mouth. All right, he was a red blob. At least the colour was good. And Deidara was a blue blob... He nodded slightly, starting to comprehend. Apparently, he didn't mind or notice the way the sculptor was explaining the graph; that, or he didn't care. But he knew one thing, he felt like a schoolkid being taught by someone not even half his age.

... Aside from the schoolkid thing, that was pretty accurate.

Ah, so that's how that thing was supposed to work. The puppet summarized the whole thing for himself; graph charting meanness and niceness, nice goes up, mean goes down; he was red, the blond was blue. Though, really... He still couldn't see the point in it. "... And iwhy/i are you going to be keeping track of such nonsense?"

Ah…good question. Deidara hadn't actually thought up the answer to that yet…well he had…"Was Sasori good boyfriend material?" But he couldn't exactly say that now could he? Think think…What should he say. The blond moved to put the marker back on the wall, trying to buy him some time. 'To…' Crap…he'd have to finish now. '…see if being friends will make you nicer!' Yes! Fantastic! Deidara was applauding himself inwardly. Pah, it wasn't nonsense. It was a very good plan. And he was very proud of himself for thinking up such a plan. No…using a plan that had already been used before...but on his partner. Urgh, all this correcting was too much for the cultured blond. 'And we start now,' he announced, scribbling the date at the top of the graph.

While Sasori waited for the blond to answer his question, his half-lidded eyes scanned over the graph. He had the 'feeling' that he wasn't going to like that thing much while it existed.

He turned his attention back onto Deidara when he started his answer. To... Okay... What was the blond on? Why would being friends make him nicer? Being friends or not being friends, he was who he was; a grumpy old man who was thankfully trapped in the body of a puppet and spared the aging process.

The puppet stared blankly at his partner for a rather prolonged time, until he announced that they were starting that graph thing. Now. "Right." He was tempted to call the fool a brat again - just to see if he was iserious/i about the damn thing. But he restrained himself from doing so - at least for the moment - turning and stepping over to Hiruko. Sitting cross-legged by his favourite little toy, he started looking it over, carefully chipping dried mud out of one joint or other occasionally, and... Pretty much ignoring his partner's presence.

So, the experiment had started. Perhaps he should've rephrased his intentions with the graph. He meant he wanted to see if Sasori would be nicer to him. Ah, he'd leave it at that. A growl from his empty stomach reminded Deidara he needed food. And it looked like the puppet wasn't in the mood to chat. He was far too busy de-mudding Hiruko. The blond artist silently exited the room as to not disturb his partner. He contemplated going to rescue Hidan's head from the basement again. Maybe he should shield his eyes from the gory scene which resided down there. After thinking about it he came to a definite no. Someone braver could go help the Jashinist. Deidara was very far from brave. It seemed like all the good food had been completely devoured. Damn. It was another two days until the weekly group supermarket trip. Perhaps making those trips more frequent was another thing to add to the quickly filling Akatsuki suggestion box. Well…rice was better than nothing, wasn't it? It was the only thing the sculptor could cook decently.

The puppet looked up when the blond made his silent exit, then looked over to the evil little graph. Oh how ieasy/i it would be to just destroy it! But then the blond would just probably make a new one. And lower his... Score... Thing. Then again - about that... Why did he care? His left eye twitched as he abruptly tore his gaze away from the graph and turned it back to Hiruko, going back to busily chipping the mud from another joint.

After that one joint was done, he stood, paused, then sat again, pondering. Nah... He'd get Hiruko more-or-less cleaned and ithen/i sort out the crap he had bought. He blinked when he remembered the little toyshop heist. Hm. What should he do with that flea-bitten plush-toy?

There was the obvious choice of giving it to Deidara. Which was what he had been going to do, anyway. Though the question was ihow/i, as he didn't want it to seem like he was being nice... Ah. He'd figure out 'how' when the time came.

Until then, de-mudding Hiruko was the first priority.

Whilst waiting for the water to boil Deidara was leaning against the wall, his eyes boring into the loudly ringing telephone. He made no move to answer it. Answering phone calls that weren't for him was just awkward…and he'd have to go hunting for the person whom the call was for. Even as Itachi burst into the room, the blue eyes didn't move from the phone. 'You could answer it,' he raven growled, picking it up. Damn…he'd missed it. 'Why didn't you answer it?' the Uchiha asked accusingly. Deidara just shrugged in response. 'Dun like phones, un…' The kettle clicked. Ah, good. The blond moved to pour the boiling water in a saucepan, but he almost spilled it at what the Uchiha said next. 'Maybe I should tell Sasori about your little crush,' he sniggered, trying to redial the number. No doubt it was the terrified kids that Kisame had been prank calling earlier. 'I tapped into your conversation using leader's phone.' The blond's eyes widened. That…weasel! He wanted to scream at Itachi for invading his privacy. Instead, he simply said "Don't."

Once the blond had finished his so called "lunch" he went back upstairs. This was terrible. What if everyone found out? What if Sasori found out…Urgh, he just hoped that Itachi wasn't that heartless. Deidara opened the door to the shared room. 'Back,' he announced, cheerily, going to sit on his bed.

Sasori had been finishing up with his favourite little puppet when Deidara re-entered the room, and thus announced his having returned. The living puppet acknowledged the blond with a slight nod, but that was just about it - for the moment. He rested his hands in his lap for a moment, looking over Hiruko with keen eyes, trying to see if he missed any spots.

Fourtunately, no. He didn't miss any spots. And checking the tail would come later. The red-head stood, then started to lead the non-living puppet over to it's usual closet. "So." ... So, what? Hm. He grinned slightly, eerily. Topic, topic. Oh, right! "About the basement. I forgot to warn you about that. Remember that puppet...?" The deceitfully old 'boy' chuckled. His partner was probably the second easiest person in the organization to scare. The first being, in his opinion at least, Tobi. It was delightfully fun to scare the hell out of both of them, as well as that stupid Jashinist. "Someone should ask that idiot boy to get Hidan's head."

... Then lock them both down there. And sound-proof the door. Leave 'em to the rats... Okay, so he was 'feeling' rather sadistic, now. Or at least cruel. Wouldn't be a first time.

Deidara had plucked his…no…Tobi's book from his rucksack and was carrying on reading. He had ultimately concluded that he was not giving Tobi his very late birthday present. Next time around he'd give him something the blond would not get attached to…say…a table cloth. He looked up from his literature when his partner said the word "So." What? The sculptor looked up at the ceiling. Puppet? Sasori had hundreds of puppets. How was he meant to identify one? Wait... 'It wasn't the real ring girl then?' the blond asked, astounded. He was going to have a little go at his partner for setting up such a blood curling scene, but decided against Sasori was going to warn him…he just forgot. An evil grin spread across Deidara's face. Now that was a fantastic late birthday present for the masked idiot. 'Good idea, un' he sniggered. Tobi would just find that as another excuse to be a "good boy." And not having him around for a while was certainly healthy.

Once Hiruko was safe and sound in the closet, Sasori closed it, turned, then leaned against it, blinking owlishly at his partner. "Of course it wasn't. If she was dead, we'd all be safe." He smirked, holding up six fingers. "We still all only have six days left." Unless Deidara came to the conclusion that there iwas/i no real ring girl. Even if he did, the puppet was still going to try to scare him shitless in six days.

His smirk widened when he noticed his partner apparently liked his Tobi-scaring idea. All they'd need to do was find the idiot. Letting his head tilt to one side, the red-head pushed off from the door and started towards his own bed. "Did you happen to see the idiot when you were downstairs?" Hmm. Another thing that would have to be considered - Zetsu. He could sometimes be protective of the masked imbecile. He probably wouldn't appreciate having to try calming his little 'pet' down if he freaked over the little set-up.

... Oh well. They'd just have to hope the cannibal wasn't with the idiot at the moment.

Urgh, six days. Deidara let out a little whine. What the hell was he meant to do in six days? His life goal was to rule the world…how the heck was he meant to do that in six days? Well…he could make a super huge, super explosive bomb and drop it on a twenty kilometre wide area. That would surely get his point across… 'Nope,' the blond replied. Only person he'd seen downstairs was Itachi. 'But I heard some kid's cartoon on the television, un,' he recollected. That must've been Tobi. Only he watches cartoons. Well…the blond did occasionally…if nothing else was on. Being locked in the basement with Hidan's head could give the masked idiot a whole new perspective of things. And finally make him realise that Deidara didn't like him. The sculptor stood up. 'We should go find him, un,' he giggled. 'Tell him there's a fairy down there.' That would surely win him over. Heck, they'd just need to tell him to go downstairs and he'd do it!

o? Sasori was about to sigh and declare a bit of a Tobi hunt, but Deidara continued before he did so. Hm. Kids cartoons. Either someone went retarded, or it iwas/i Tobi. Or at least a good place to check. "Okay." The puppet headed towards the door, stopping near it and placing a hand on the knob before looking back to the blond.

Then blinking. A fairy? Aside from suddenly imagining Hidan's head with butterfly wings... That gave the red-head another cruel little idea involving his new idea for a puppet and the idiot masked boy. Heh, if he were human still, he'd probably feel pity for the poor imbecile... Or... Not. "Come on, then." He opened the door and stepped out, not bothering to close it behind him. After all, it seemed like his partner was coming along, too.

He breifly wondered just how loud the masked boy could scream. Tch, they'd most likely find out soon enough...

Wow. Sasori was actually serious about the whole locking Tobi in the basement thing. Deidara actually thought he had been joking. Turns out he was wrong. Well…he needed to pay the older Uchiha back for choosing the movie the night before. Even though it had been Sasori's puppet had made it that much scarier. Feh, it was simple. He liked Sasori. He didn't like Tobi. Who was he going to lock in the basement? Tobi. The blond followed his partner and locked the door. 'We're such bullies,' he giggled evilly. The sculptor had already blown up Tobi's hand that day…a little more artistic torture wouldn't hurt would it?

The culprit who had put on the cartoons ended up being Tobi after all. He had adopted Deidara's usual position of dangling his head off the sofa, staring intently at the television screen.

The puppet looked back at Deidara before stopping atop the stairs. "Bullies?" Sasori snorted. "If this winds up scaring Tobi away, we'll be doing imost/i of the organization a favour." Most. Again, mister man-eating plantman, for whatever reason, didn't seem to dislike the masked fool. Or at least one of his personalities didn't mind him. Added to the fact that he was schizophrenic, it wasn't quite surprising. More than likely, Zetsu just saw the fool as another voice in his head. That just, unfourtunately, wasn't iin/i his head.

He quickly went down the stairs - an easier task, indeed, considering he wasn't in Hiruko. He was on the ground floor rather quickly, heading straight for the livingroom. Yep. Kids cartoons. Again he stopped, albeit at the door to the livingroom. Yep. "... Tobi."

Very good point! Shut up inner Deidara. He was prepared to do anything to get rid of Tobi. Well…maybe not anything...just most things. 'Un!' he exclaimed, agreeing with his partner, feeling a lot more enthusiastic than he had before. If all went well, it looked like Sasori would end up getting a pretty good start on the "nice" chart. Even if he wasn't being nice to Tobi. The two artists were getting along. This was a very rare occurrence for the pair. The blond followed his partner, grinning away. Perhaps forwarding the fairy thing would be funny. 'Tell him there's a fairy in the basement, un,' he giggled. 'Just to show how gullible he is.'

Upon hearing his name mentioned by the puppet, Tobi looked up and over at the door. 'Sasori-sempai!' he said happily, flipping himself over to look at the puppet. He didn't notice the quiet giggles coming from Deidara, whom was hiding behind the door.

What was with Deidara and fairies? Sasori rose a brow and glanced over at the blond before looking back into the living room and, effectively, back at Tobi. Tch, might as well... "Hn. You might want to go down into the basement, quickly," the red-head began, mentally twitching at what he was about to say, next. "There is a pretty fairy down there." Well... There iwas/i a fairy down there. Really. He just wasn't pretty.

The puppet also realized that this was one of the rare times in which he and the blond were getting along. Though, he had concluded it was because of a common interest. They both didn't like the masked idiot much, if at all. Heh... Thankfully, Zetsu was nowhere in sight. So there would be no one to rescue the twit for a while.

Which was fine and dandy, in his not-so-humble opinion.

'A fairy in the basement?!' Tobi leapt up, almost losing his balance in the process. It was not clever to move so quickly after being upside-down. But who cares?! There's a pretty fairy in the basement! Deidara peeped his head over Sasori's shoulder, to see how the Uchiha had reacted. Ah, so he had believed the puppet. Maybe this little prank would teach him not to be so gullible in the future. 'Hurry. Coz she might fly away, un,' the blond added, trying his best to sound serious and not crack up with laughter. No doubt it would be a slight giveaway. Tobi hurried over to the two artists and squeezed past them. 'What does she look like?' he asked, excitedly, heading over to the basement. Good question. Telling him she had black hair and wore a white dress didn't sound very friendly. 'She's got pink hair…and wears a blue dress, un,' Deidara replied hurrying after Tobi.

... He was never calling Deidara an idiot ever again. Or at least not with Tobi near-by. iNo one/i could be considered an idiot when he was near. He was the iking/i of idiots. Sasori watched with half-lidded eyes as the masked twit leapt up and, after the blond said that the 'fairy' might fly away, hurried their way and squeezed on by. He temporarily looked slightly amused after the imbecile was on his way to the basement. Tobi really iwas/i gullible.

The puppet turned to watch the masked fool hurry towards the basement, the sculptor following quickly after. Wanting to watch, the red-head wasted no time in following them. He mentally snickered at his partner's description of the supposed fairy, then twitched slightly as the image of Hidan with pink dyed hair wearing a blue dress invaded his mind. Ew. Great. "Don't forget the delicate, rainbow wings, Deidara," he pointed out.

What was a fairy without wings, after all?

Down in the spooky basement, Hidan was... Currently, asleep. Hey, what else was a guy supposed to do if they didn't have a body and had a friggin' rat nestled snugly in their skull?


	9. Chapter 9

Rainbow wings too? This must be a really pretty fairy! Tobi squealed in excitement, hurrying down the stairs to the basement door. He paused at the doorknob and looked back to the artists. 'Can you come with me? It's dark in there,' he mumbled. Jeez...He really was hopeless wasn't he? Deidara sighed irritably and moved down the stairs in response. He'd have to be quick if he wanted to lock the masked Uchiha in there. With only one arm, he'd be slowed down significantly. Once in the presence of the blond, Tobi slowly opened the door and peered inside. 'I dun see anything,' he announced. Well duh. Deidara looked over the idiot's shoulder, pushing him further into the gloom. 'Don't worry. The fairy's not gunna attack you or anything, un.' Woah! That gave the sculptor yet another evil idea. 'Go on.' The idiot moved forward again and then crash. 'OW!' he wailed. Aw…seemed like he had forgotten about the step and fallen over. Deidara saw his chance, slammed the door and locked it. 'Oh, dear. Looks like the fairy's locked the door, un,' he giggled. The blond looked over at Sasori and lifted his hand as if he was controlling a puppet.

The puppet stopped and watched the two just a few feet away from the stairs. Looked like Deidara could handle the rest of the little plan. Or, at least, he hoped so, since it seemed he had to go down with the masked idiot... Heh. He didn't want to have to lock his partner in there, too.

iFootsteps!/i Hidan's eyes shot open at the sound of footsteps and voices! ... And then, his eyes went narrow. That idiot fool that fled last time... And Tobi. Why were they talking about fairies...? ... Wait. He was the only living thing - aside from that Jashin forsaken rat - in the basement. He couldn't be saying that ihe/i was a fairy... Right?

... Okay, the dumbass was going to die. Yes. As soon as -

The crash at the bottom of the stairs, the loud wailed 'OW' and the slam of the door broke through his thoughts. Shit... That couldn't mean... He was stuck down there. With Tobi. And a rat he so ilovingly/i named Fuckwad. "FUCK. YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! YOU ARE SO FUCKING DEAD WHEN I GET MY BODY BACK, BLONDIE!" 'Course, he didn't notice that the way he said it almost made it sound like he was sort of protective of the masked idiot.

By now, Sasori looked mildly amused. Heh, the blond could be so evil, sometimes. That's why he --- ... Could tolerate him. Yeah, that was it. He rose a brow - both at the Jashinist's threat and the sculptor's little gesture. What, did he want the red-head to make the ring-girl puppet come to 'life' or something?

... Psh. Why the hell not. He began to concentrate on finding a path good enough to lead a chakra string through - the space underneath the door was good enough - and then, once it was attatched to the puppet...

In the basement, there was the popping and cracking of wooden joints as the supposed ring-girl started, quite jerkily, to push itself up.

That slam didn't sound good. Tobi crawled up to the door and started tugging on the doorknob. 'Deidara-sempai?' he called out, as if doing so would cause the door to magically unlock. He almost jumped out of his skin when Hidan started screaming explicitly at the blond who was standing behind the door sniggering away. Deidara didn't really care that his life was being threatened…the Jashinist didn't have his body. And it didn't look like he would get it back for quite a while. Perhaps avoiding Hidan for a while would be a good idea. Ah, good. Sasori had understood what the sculptor had meant. It was now only a matter of time before their mission was completely over.

Tobi looked over to where he had heard the Jashinist. 'Hidan-sempai! You're here too?' Assuming that the cracks were coming from Hidan, the masked fool went to switch on the light. Boy was he wrong. Much like Deidara's first reaction after seeing the puppet master's work of art, Tobi switched the light back off again, letting out a very high pitched scream. Well…high for a guy like Tobi. 'UWAAAA! SHE'S GUNNA KILL MEEEE!' It didn't actually occur to him that he, like the rest of Akatsuki had another six days to live...oh well.

Everyone's favourite Jashinist furrowed his brow at the popping and cracking sounds, though it seemed Tobi didn't find them to be a cause of worry. Huh. He blinked rapidly when the light was switched on, then scowled when the light was turned off.

Before it dawned on him that if it obviously wasn't he that was making the noises, or Tobi, then... Well, the scream and exclaimation of 'SHE'S GUNNA KILL MEEEE' confirmed it. That bloody body was imoving/i. "SHIT! WHAT THE HELL! TOBI! PICK ME UP, DAMNIT!" Hey. At least then he wouldn't be a vulnerable, talking, decapitated head laying on the floor. He'd be a talking, decapitated head being carried by an idiot. Okay, so maybe the floor was better. But it wasn't like Hidan thought of these things.

The ring-girl puppet, for the moment, ignored the talking head. It instead started moving towards the masked fool, hands outstretched and grasping for pretty much anything they could grab.

Sasori grinned widely, albeit evilly and a touch creepily, as well. The idiot's scream was like music, to some extent. Albeit not very melodic - but he wanted to hear it again. Who know scaring the hell of such imbeciles could be so fun? Heh, he couldn't wait until the six days were up!

Unfourtunately for Tobi, Zetsu wasn't in the house. He was out on a mission. Poor Tobi.

All the while, Fuckwad the Mouse nibbled cheerfully away at the inside of the immortal's head.

Cruel artist number two was also enjoying the sounds of Tobi's frantic screaming. He was now sitting on the stairs, sniggering away. 'How long're we gunna keep him in there for, un?' he asked, looking back towards Sasori. Deidara himself expected at least six hours, but his partner was very much more merciful. The total time would probably be at least doubled. Another scream. Tobi was now curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, hoping that being there would prevent the ring girl puppet from finding him. Even though…he couldn't see anything in the darkness. Hell, the corpse puppet could be above him for all he knew. He didn't even dare go retrieve Hidan's head. Just the thought of bumping into the puppet send shivers up his spine. 'DEIDARA-SEMPAI! HELP!' he wailed. Feeling no guilt whatsoever, the blond called back. 'The pretty fairy with rainbow wings will save you, un!' He began to imagine Tobi being smothered by the ring puppet in its attempt to "save" him. Hm…maybe stealing the key would be an excellent idea. It would prevent anyone else rescuing the two misfortunate Akatsuki members.

The living puppet tilted his head slightly to one side, looking down at Deidara for a moment before he shrugged. How long... Heh, he hadn't thought of that. "Maybe a day... Or two. Unless someone gets bothered by the screaming." Or unless the cannibal got back and decided to free the idiot and ruin their fun. Or if Kakuzu had to go off on a mission and had to finally fetch Hidan's head.

The ring-girl puppet seemed to follow Tobi's voice, as it was making it's way towards his corner at a good pace. Not too quickly, though. The puppeteer wanted to try making it so that each crack and pop was noticeable. But then, abruptly, it stopped.

... Then reached out as quickly as it could, long, willowy fingers grasping for the poor fool.

The Jashinist, unfourtunately, heard the bit about the fairy. And took it the wrong way. "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU CALLING A FAIRY, YOU QUEER-ASS BLOND?!" Yep. There was a scary, poppy-jointed chick and an idiot locked with him in the basement and he forgot all about either of them because he thought the idiot upstairs was calling him a fairy.

Sasori snickered, silently wishing he had a tape recorder so he could record the masked twit's screams and listen to them whenever he felt the need. Which would probably be often, especially when creating new puppets from scratch. Or from people. But they screamed well enough on their own.

Judging by the sounds of the popping joints, the puppet was close. Tobi let out another loud wail and tried to crawl closer to the wall. But if the idiot tried to get any closer to the wall…he would be the wall. Part of him was actually Igladi/ that he couldn't see past his nose. Only because he'd be able to see the deadly ring girl puppet and not be able to get away. 'I THINK SHE FLEW AWAY!' he shouted. Shame…he really wanted to see that fairy. The last comment from the Jashinist made Deidara twitch slightly. He hadn't originally been directing the fairy comment at Hidan, but well…things change. 'YOU!' he shouted back. Hm…maybe he should go find his headless body and stash it away somewhere. Evidently earning him a much larger punishment. But seeing how long Hidan could go without his body was almost as funny as listening to Tobi scream. Almost. God, listening to Tobi screaming was WAY better. The blond could hardly wait until the ring puppet finally found him. He was going to whine to Sasori to hurry up. Even though it was all the more torture for poor little Tobi.

The Jashinist's left eye twitched in mild irritation - and that was an understatement. He was highly pissed. At Tobi, at Deidara, and at the creator of that stupid puppet, Sasori! They were all ritual fodder when he got his body back! ... Well. Maybe not Tobi. Jashin would probably take that as an insult.

A feral growl escaped the silver-haired head of an immortal at the blond's reply. "IF I'M A FUCKING FAIRY, THEN YOU'RE A GODDAMN PRINCESS!" Just the thought of the freak in a dress would have made him shudder if he were able to move anything aside from his eyes and mouth.

It was 'Time'. To take the scare up a level. The ring girl puppet wrapped one hand around the twit's upper arm, the other moving to sort of claw at his mask.

Since puppeteering was his specialty, Sasori didn't need to concentrate on it much. Instead, he found himself listening to the little exchange of words between the bodiless Hidan and his partner, Deidara. Tch, knowing his luck, he was going to have to play 'protect brat number one from brat number two' when the immortal got his body back. Or get Kakuzu to put said immortal on a leash...

In return, the blond artist's eyes narrowed. "Princess"? There were many things he despised. But the thing that made his blood boil the most was having his gender confused by halfwits. Even the most intelligent person in the world could turn out to be blind and think Deidara was a woman. He rose to his feet, pointing his finger to the door accusingly. 'DON'T CALL ME A LADY, BITCH! I'LL BLOW YOU UP!' he roared furiously. The bomber was about to add more insults and obscenities to his rave when he was cut off by the loudest, horrific and blood curling screams that had reached the blond's ears in months. Though interrupted by the masked fool's rudeness, he couldn't help but burst out laughing. The princess comment being pushed straight to the back of his mind. The one who uttered the such ear drum ripping sounds was about to faint. 'HIDAN-SEMPAI! HELP MEEEEE!' he cried, trying to push the puppet away from him. This comment only made the sculptor laugh that much more.

Well, since he was more-or-less immortal and Kakuzu could just peice him back together afterwards, Hidan really couldn't bring himself to worry. Oh, no. Instead, why not press the blondie's buttons even more? ... Which was what he tried to do, yelling out, "OOOH! SOMEONE'S ON THE RAG!" - although his words were drowned out by the masked dumbasses' screams.

The puppeteer chuckled - again, at two things. The argument that the Jashinist and Deidara were having - if he wouldn't look like a total idiot, he'd try to force his partner into a dress later, but alas... He'd probably have to drug the sculptor. Which he was capable of, but he'd have to buy a dress first... Wait. Why the hell was he considering such a thing?

And the second thing was, obviously, Tobi's screams. Plus the shouting for the head of a man to help him... What was the Jashinist going to do? Roll over and chew the ring-puppet into a pile of toothpicks?

"Tobi," the silver-haired rat's nest of an immortal began, rather calmly at first. Though he was quickly approaching pure rage again. Now his ears were ringing, he had a headache, his insult probably didn't reach blondie, and the idiot over in the corner wanted help. From him. Though he couldn't quite imove/i. "How can I help you if I don't have my FUCKING BODY?!

The ring girl puppet only brought the hand clawing at Tobi's mask back to grab one of the idiot's hands, not one to be easily pushed back. Oh, no. It moved it's head forward, instead, towards the crook of the twit's neck, amost as if it were going to bite him.

Luckily for Hidan and the rest of the Akatsuki members who were in the building, Deidara hadn't heard the Jashinist's last remark. Luckily only because the whole building would probably be blown to smithereens…evidently earning the artist the title of "suicide bomber." But he had heard the reply to the masked boy. It seemed like little Tobi had decided that the blond was not coming to his rescue and moved on to he who currently was only a head. However, this did not occur to Tobi until Iafteri/ he had got the angry reply from Hidan. So the sculptor remained in his little fit of laughter, until the screaming stopped. Damn…that was so selfish of Tobi. How dare he stop screaming? Aw…he hadn't fainted had he? No…he hadn't. He just prayed that remaining silent would tell the puppet he was already dead. Was it even possible to be scared to death? Tobi didn't think so. The silence didn't last though. 'Dun kill me...I'm a good boy!' he whimpered in his defence, trying to push the eerie puppet away from his neck. What was it? Some sort of vampire? A little miffed by the lack of sound coming from the basement, Deidara looked to his partner. 'Make him scream again, un,' he giggled. 'He's being too quiet.'

Thank Jashin! The irritatingly loud screams had stopped! Hidan closed his eyes and sighed in relief - and his hearing was still intact! Well... At least until Fuckwad started chewing on his eardrums. The silence was inice/i, until the masked twit broke it. "Tobi, ishut up/i and let it fucking eat you or whatever!"

The red-headed puppet frowned at the lengthy quietness. Perhaps the idiot's vocal chords had ruptured or something... Though if they had been going to do that, they would have done so a ilong/i time ago. Around when he first spoke his first word as 'Tobi'. Sasori halted his puppet's movements for a moment, then looked at Deidara, nodding. "I'll try." ... What? He wanted to hear the imbecile scream some more, too!

The non-living ring-girl puppet started to move again, allowing itself to be pushed away from it's victim's neck. Although in retaliation, it tightened it's grip on his upper arm and hand considerably, trying to pull him back, out of the corner and to who the hell knows where.

All the while, the puppeteer was thinking. What should he make his little toy do with the fool? ... That wouldn't hurt him itoo/i much, but would leave emotional and mental scars that would last up until his dying day? Could find a rat to put down his shirt or something...

Tobi had lost all will power…and actual power. He was beaten. By a non-living puppet. A very very scary non-living puppet. 'But I dun wanna be eaten,' the masked boy whined to his "basement buddy" as it were. Yep. It was decided. The last thing he was ever going to do was let himself be dragged around by a fictional character from a book and movie. And he would be murdered by said fictional character. Six days early. He wailed a little. That grip was tight. Deidara could barely hold in his excitement. He was like a little kid on Christmas morning, waiting for his parents to wake up and let him go downstairs to rip open his gifts. It then occurred to the blond he had decided not to wear his scope that day. He had the urge to run upstairs and get it. He could change it to a thermogram setting, allowing him to see the shapes of the beings inside the basement. Even though…he may end up missing another scream from Tobi. Get on with it, Danna, he muttered inwardly. It soon dawned on Deidara that none of the other Akatsuki members had come to complain about the noise being caused by the "pending" member. Not even Sir. Leader. Then again…he'd probably grown used to the noise due to the presence of very frequent arguments.

Of course, Hidan couldn't care less if he tried that the masked twit didn't want to be eaten. Then again... Who would? 'Cept for that cannibal. "Then be a good fucking boy and just ishut up/i," he muttered grumpily. Eugh, who would'a thought being immortal could be so annoying, sometimes? If he ihadn't/i been immortal, he'd be dead by now and wouldn't have a rat in his head, an annoying idiot off somewhere to the... Left, maybe? And let's not forget the damnable puppet.

The puppeteer was istill/i thinking. Though he had settled on two things; getting rid of Tobi's mask for a moment, and using a rat for something. The only problem was getting a rat. Eh... Maybe he could substitute it with the Jashinist's head, instead.

Of course, the whole no one coming to complain about the racket thing had inot/i occured to Sasori. For once, something escaped his notice. Then again, he was busy doing something else; his thoughts were occupied, and even if someone did come to complain... He'd probably tell them to shut the hell up before he decided to visit them during the night. Even if it did sound kind of creepy in a way he hadn't thought of.

The puppet stopped dragging poor little Tobi once it was near the immortal's head. Though it kept a grip on his upper arm, it let go of the hand it held and used it instead to forcefully yank off the mask, which it let fall to the floor, before groping around for a certain little someone. Which it found seconds later, and despite a feirce shout of "PUT ME DOWN YOU FUCKING DUMBASS!", picked him up.

... And then promptly and blindly shoved him into the idiot Uchiha's face. Unfourtunately, this upset Fuckwad the Mouses' balance, and he ended up falling out of his new home. Onto Tobi. Where it quickly started to climb upwards.

Beginning to grow a little impatient with the pace his partner was going at, Deidara let out an annoyed groan. It seemed like Tobi had done enough screaming. And the argument between himself and Hidan had stopped too. Now the blond's throat hurt. The Uchiha's did as well. Shame…they were clean out of honey and lemon juice. As a result of constant arguments and conflicts, that had become his favourite beverage. Hm…perhaps once the fool had managed to crawl out of the basement the sculptor would reward him by pouring the juice over his head…no…that was exactly the same as saying "go away, you annoying little boy." It would be best for Tobi to leave by himself. Though, no doubt after this torturous experience he would make that attempt. Deidara's ears pricked up as he heard another yell from the Jashinist. Had the masked twit made a move to escape and picked the head up in the process?

Of course not. Taking it like the man he was, Tobi was sitting obediently, waiting. He let out a little wail as his beloved orange mask was taken from him. He felt slightly naked without his favourite accessory. Though it was quickly replaced by Hidan's head. He closed his mouth tightly, not wanting to accidentally swallow any of the Jashinist's brains. Wait…what was that? Another screech erupted from Tobi's mouth as he felt Fuckwad climb down him. He frantically tried to relieve himself of the puppet's grasp to grab the small rodent. Failing. That girl was strong!

If only he had hands! Hidan found himself unable to scream or shout or rant about how he was going to sacrifice them all to Jashin soon enough because he found his mouth pressed against what felt like Tobi's forehead. iEw/i. The most he could get out was a muffled, incoherant curse or two before he decided opening his mouth while it was in contact with the twit's head wasn't the best idea ever.

The red-headed puppet glared just slightly at the blond, due to the annoyed-sounding noise. Could he not have patience? The imbecile down there seemed to have gotten used to his predicament.

At least it had seemed like he had. Sasori smirked slightly once again when he heard the fool screech a short moment after Hidan demanded to be put back down. Either the immortal was hideous enough to inspire fear in pitch black conditions, or he got the idiot in the eye with part of the immortal's spinal chord or... Something else. Whatever it was, it worked. "There. Happy, Deidara? I got him to scream again." He paused for a moment to listen for the Jashinist, raising a brow when he heard no protests or anything. "... And got Hidan to shut up."

And he did not quite want to know how.

The ring-girl puppet tried to both keep a hold on Tobi, and keep the head it held where ever it had happened to wind up. Though it more-or-less succeeded with the former, it failed with the latter; it accidentally dropped the talkitive head. Into Tobi's lap.

Hidan's rather horrorfied scream soon joined Tobi's screech.

Meanwhile, Fuckwad the mouse clung to part of the frantic, de-masked idiot's clothing and stopped climbing, alert and ready to bite, scratch, and hiss at pretty much anything that came near it.

Halleluiah! Hidan had finally shut up. Deidara almost cheered. Though, instead he raised his good arm in jubilation. The Jashin's annoying voice was like feedback in loudspeakers ruining Tobi's screams of dismay, in essence, just ruiningthe artists' fun. 'Un!' he exclaimed happily. Seems like the patience paid off, huh? The blond also wanted to know how Sasori had actually managed to get Hidan to shut up. Though he wasn't complaining. In fact he was extremely pleased.

The mask-less and terrified Tobi only screamed louder when the Jashinist's head landed in his lap. Why was the stupid puppet taking so long in killing him? Being killed by that boulder seemed like a much better way to go. Even being eaten by his darlingZetsu was more appealing. He desperately and carelessly tried grabbing hold of Fuckwad the mouse, whom was clinging onto his clothes, accidentally hitting Hidan in the head a number of times in the process. 'GET IT OF MEEEE!' he bawled, twisting himself around in a final attempt to escape from the ring girl puppet's tight grip, almost breaking his arm in the routine. He needed a weapon. And his mask seemed like the only weapon-like item, which would be able to cause enough damage to the muderous puppet to let him get away. Once he had retrieved his discarded accessory and in a preposterous endeavour, he began smashing the orange mask against what he imagined and hoped was its head.

Goddamnit, it would be a miracle if he wasn't ideaf/i by the time this whole damn thing was over! Hidan's little scream of horror at being dropped into the idiot's lap was abruptly cut off when, while Tobi was trying to grab little Fuckwad, said twit accidentally hit his head. Not once! But several times! "OW, OW, OW! TOBI, you bastard, STOP. HITTING. ME!"

Well, he ihad/i been shut up. But ino one/i can keep everyones not-so favourite immortal quiet for long, now, can they? Hell no!

Of course, he rolled out of the idiot's lap when he started twisting around in order to try breaking out of the puppet's grasp. Although it, too, added to his mild, headache-building discomfort, it was a great relief. And with vague satisfaction, he also noticed his little friend was gone. Thank Jashin!

Fuckwad, though it was successfully grabbed, wasn't a very nice mouse. It immediately tried to wriggle away, biting and scratching and anything it's little claws and teeth could reach.

The puppeteer snickered quietly at Deidara's glee, though frowned when he felt a bit of a tug at the end of the chakra string attatched to the puppet. Tch, seemed like Tobi was beginning to fight back... Ah, well! If he actually ihurt/i him now, it wouldn't be icompletely/i his fault! Sasori smirked. Evilly.

Of course, the puppet - under no circumstances, except for having it's arm ripped out of it's socket - was not going to let go of the idiot's arm. At least, not iyet/i. If things got 'risky' for the puppet, the puppeteer would pull back - he still needed it for the finale in six days, after all.

And, it being made out of wood, could not feel pain. Although the one controlling it got fairly annoyed when the chakra string started jerking again, although they were shorter, they were also more frequent. The not-so masked idiot's aim was pretty good, as he was hitting the puppet's head, although the puppeteer could not see this. Thankfully. Deciding it would be good to pull back, now - if for only a moment - he made the puppet release it's grip on Tobi and leap back a few feet. Hmm... Now what should he make it do...

A yelp of pain escaped Tobi's mouth as he felt his finger being gnawed at by Fuckwad. If the rodent had been a rat, the un-masked twit would've thrown the poor creature across the room and into the wall, either killing it or severely injuring it. Not wanting to get bitten and scratched even more, the Uchiha attempted shaking Fuckwad off his hand and onto the floor. Hopefully it wouldn't hurt the already pretty grumpy animal.

The blond was watching the chakra string with great interest. What the hell was Tobi trying to do? Drag the puppet master into the basement as well? He giggled slightly. It sort of reminded him of a fishing rod.

Yay! Tobi's mad ring girl hitting had paid off. Even though his mask was pretty much falling apart by now, he held onto the remnants tightly and scurried over to the other end of the room, looking around for the light switch. He needed to illuminate the room so he could seek out a hiding place. A good one which would prevent the puppet from finding and dragging him around the room again.

For a couple of minutes now, the younger Uchiha had been watching the two artists from a distance. To begin with, he had wondered what the hell they were doing. Though the answer became apparent when he heard his cousin's screams of terror. But what was Itachi doing there? To taunt Deidara some more of course. Turns out it was the sharingan's turn to wash up, but of course, he would much rather carry on burning through the wall in the gym. 'Deidara,' he called. Deidara jumped in surprise and turned around to look at who had uttered his name. 'Oh…Hi Itachi,' he said a little uneasily. The Uchiha smirked. 'Go do the washing up for me,' he ordered coldly, walking over to the pair to become another member of the audience. 'Now.' The sculptor bit his lip. Staying in Itachi's good books would lessen the chance of his secret being spilled to Sasori. He quickly stood up and headed into the kitchen to carry out the chore.

Fuckwad the mouse did not take trying to be shaken off very well, for it continued to cling to Tobi's hand stubbornly. Until, of course, it could no longer - mice got tired, too! - and wound up being successfully shaken off. And guess where it landed? That's right.

"GODDAMNIT!" The Jashinist was inot/i pleased. That fucking pest just landed with one clawed paw directly hitting his left eye, and it'e tail nearly curling up and into his nose. It definately wasn't the most pleasent thing he'd ever experienced... "TO-BI! YOU ASSHOLE! GET THIS DAMN THING BACK OFF OF ME!"

The ring-girl puppet reached back out to grab at the twit, though it caught only air. Then it started to crawl about, groping around the floor and accidentally knocking into Hidan's head, causing it to roll over.

... Great. Now the Jashinist had a face full of floor. At least the mouse had taken it's paw out of his eye. But now all four were digging their small, little claws into the back of his skull... Eugh, even being Kakuzu's little stress-relieving 'toy' was less annoying than this! At least it was over sooner!

Sasori glanced briefly over at Deidara when he giggled, then returned his attention back to the puppet. Hn, seemed like Tobi had moved from being directly infront of it... Damn! The puppeteer frowned. It would probably take a while to find and catch the idiot again...

He blinked when he heard Itachi call out to his partner. Said partner's uneasy response sort-of made him curious. Maybe he was nervous around the smarter Uchiha due to that whole wrist thing...? Tch, he'd find out soon enough... He listened to their exchange of words - which only served to make him imore/i curious. Why the hell was the sculptor being so compliant to the weasel's dish-washing order? That was... Odd. No retorts, no arguing...

He momentarily stopped his puppeteering to look over at Itachi, giving the mentioned sharingan a slightly questioning look, complete with a vocalization of what he was wondering. "Hm... What did you do to the brat?" And by 'brat', he, of course, meant Deidara.


	10. Chapter 10

Quickly changing his path to go retrieve Hidan, Tobi started stumbling around in the dark, searching for his basement buddy. And finding the Jashinist's head was much easier than anticipated. All he had to do was follow his very loud, very annoying voice. Wandering around in the dark wasn't one of the Uchiha's favourite pastimes, especially seeing as he accidentally crashed into the puppet on his way to rescue Hidan's head. He let out another wail, trying to move as far away from it as possible. 

Taking up where Deidara had been originally been sitting, Itachi sat down, smirking away eerily. He recalled that Deidara had said "Don't" after he had threatened to tell the puppet about the little dilemma. Don't what? Don't keep it a secret? Don't make me have to tell him? The blond really needed to more specific when talking to the younger Uchiha. He could manipulate words very very slyly. Like his name implied. 'I listened in to his phone call this morning,' the prodigy replied absently, staring down at the basement door. 'And got him wrapped around my little finger.' Even though said Uchiha would very much enjoy having his chores done by the little blond whilst keeping him on his toes, he was desperate to tell Sasori. Just to bug Deidara. Ah, what the hell. 'It very much revolved around his feelings for you.'

Washing up with only one hand was turning out to be pretty damn difficult. That, and the fact that the sculptor was so fucking worried that Itachi was spreading his secret to his partner. One of the may reasons why he disliked the weasel the most out of the whole organisation. Once Deidara had finished his assignment he quickly went up to the bedroom.

Why did he bother? Hidan let out an annoyed sigh as he heard what sounded unmistakeably like an idiot crashing into a puppet. Looked like he wouldn't be saved from his floor-and-rat fate any time soon... Damnit. He didn't know who he would sacrifice first. Kakuzu, for decapitating him in the first place; Sasori, for throwing his head into the basement; Deidara, for calling him a fucking fairy; or Tobi - but again, Jashin would take that as an insult. And he couldn't sacrifice a rat. Just... No. "I FUCKING HATE YOU ALL!" Well, 'all' encompassing everyone on his little hitlist.

The mouse still clung to the immortal's head, little needle-like claws drawing a bit of blood as it held on tighter due to being startled by various things; like Hidan's loudness and the puppet falling.

Luckily for Tobi, Sasori was too distracted to control the puppet properly; when the twit crashed into it, the ring-girl puppet keeled over and wound up in an ungraceful heap on the floor. And didn't bother to get back up. Er... Yet.

The red-headed puppeteer was listening intently to Itachi's answer. Tch, that sneaky ass... He opened his mouth, about to berate him for invading someone elses' privacy when it didn't concern him in anyway.

Though it didn't come out how he had planned after that last sentence had left the sneak's mouth. "... What?" Well... Okay, so it would be sinking down to the young Uchiha's level to ask and thus partake in invading poor Deidara's privacy. But in matters concerning him - why would Sasori care about privacy? Of all things? "What was the call about, Itachi?" Sure, he tried to keep his voice as monotonous as possible... Though it still held a bit of an edge. A somewhat tense edge. Due to earlier events, he could probably guess along the lines of what the call had been about... Sort of. But it wouldn't hurt to make sure and find out what it had been about, if he was completely off.

Once the unmasked buffoon managed to find the wall, he began moving along, feeling for the light switch. He couldn't help but wonder what he had done wrong. But having a sieve for a brain didn't help in such situations. As soon as his scratched and chewed up hand managed to hunt down the light switch he quickly switched the light on. The Jashinist's head was a lot further away than he had thought. Then again, judging distances by sound wasn't particularly easy. In between the two was the mangled up ring girl. Even in the light, Tobi still didn't realize that the scary fictional character was actually a puppet.

Itachi simply closed his red eyes and smirked. He made no move to warn Sasori about the contents of the phonecall. He was also in a very taunting mood, but decided against it. So cruel of them to be gossiping about the blond behind his back. Somewhat like little school girls. 'Deidara was talking to his mother about his…sexuality as it were,' he began, at a low volume. The sculptor could come back any minute and hear the discussion. 'He kept on saying he liked you but felt he couldn't tell you.' The Uchiha looked up at the puppet master slyly, expecting what he was saying to make him squirm a little. 'I thought I'd tell you. Just to save him the trouble.'

Unaware of the exchange of words between his partner and the youngest member of the organization, Deidara was busy carrying on with the reading of the lovely book about wizards and whatnot. He had started off the "nice chart" by drawing the line signifying Sasori upwards. Upwards because there had been no arguments and no name calling from the puppet, which made the blond rather pleased.

Wincing as the damned rat moved over to chew on his ear, the pissed off Jashinist narrowed his eyes and glared fiercely at... Whatever the hell was infront of him. The floor. And then, the light was turned on.

Which caused Hidan to squint. Ow. His eyes had gotten so used to the dark, that the light ihurt/i. Though once they re-adjusted themselves, he tried his best to look around while only able to move his eyes. Or, eye. One of them had been damaged by that Fuckwad mouse - he'd have to go find a medic some time, later, as he wasn't letting Kakuzu try to fix it. He twitched as he felt the mouse, startled by the sudden light, scurry into the nest it had made of his head. Damnit... All he could see was floor, and part of the unmoving puppet Though he couldn't see enough to confirm that it was, indeed, a puppet. "Idiot, come the fuck over here and pick me up before than Jashin-damned thing wakes up!"

The ring-puppet, forgotten by it's puppeteer, just lay lifelessly where it had fallen.

Sasori slowly started to regret that he had asked as he listened to Itachi's answer to his question. Okay, so he had been sort of... Off, as to what he had thought the call had been about. He certainly didn't think the blond would call his mother for guidance or... Whatever. Hell, he hadn't even known Deidara ihad/i any living relatives.

He fidgeted slightly, letting the chakra string dissipate into nothing and thus ending his little torture-Tobi session. He was silent for a moment, trying his damnedest to keep his expression neutral, tried to keep from going wide-eyed and slightly shocked - he was supposed to be iemotionless/i, things like this shouldn't effect him in any way! Though he unmistakeably felt something ithat/i time. He quickly regained his composure, scowling at the young Uchiha before turning to leave. Great, now being around his partner would be just plain iawkward/i for a long, long time. "How thoughtful of you," he muttered on his way away from the damnable weasel.

Tobi also found the sudden luminance of the basement quite a strain on his one eye. Before attempting to help the poor Jashinist, the twit went over to a pile of boxes, picking up a large one and went back to the mangled ring girl puppet, placing the cardboard over it. This wasn't meant to trap the creature. Just prevent Tobi from looking at it again. That thing was way to scary. With that done, the older Uchiha wondered over to Hidan's severed head, claiming it and holding it at arms' length, not particularly wanting Fuckwad the mouse to clamber over him again. 'Are you okay, Hidan-sempai?' he asked worriedly.

His cousin was squealing with pleasure inside. He knew he had got to Sasori, causing his smirk to only widen. As the moment of silence passed, the Uchiha stared up at the puppet master, waiting for a verbal reaction. Though he was a little miffed when it didn't come until the red head had decided to leave. Well, it wasn't as if he expected him to stay after hearing such news. The raven let out a very quiet snigger when he finally did say something. 'Don't mention it,' he replied coolly, turing to face the basement door. Looked like he would have to continue the Tobi torture. But Itachi just couldn't resist pressing the puppet's buttons just a bit more 'I'd get him before someone else does,' he called as his finishing blow.

Slowly growing tired of the original version of Harry Potter, Deidara was now creating his own interpretation. It was helping him keep his mind off more bothersome things. The fact that Harry was now being eaten by Mrs. Norris the cat and Ron had stolen his wand couldn't help but make the blond artist giggle. Maybe he could get it published…yeah…when pigs fly.

Sort-of watching the idiot move to cover the ring-girl puppet with a box - well, it was more like ilistening/i as he did so, due to the obvious - Hidan's left eye twitched irritably. Hey, ihe/i wouldn't waste any time doing stupid things if he had to retrieve Tobi's head! ... But then he'd also probably use said head as a paper-weight or something to throw at random people when they pissed him off and he was too tired to sacrifice them to his precious Jashin.

Though when he was ifinally/i picked up, he nearly cheered for fucking joy - then sent a venomous glare Tobi's way. Stupid, stupid question. "My goddamn body is one or two fucking floors above us and I have a fucking rat in my goddamn fucking head. NO. I AM NOT O-FUCKING-KAY!"

iThump/i. Fuckwad the mouse, moments after the Jashinist's head was picked up by idiot Tobi, lost it's grip and fell out. Of course, it landed unhurt - and on it's four paws, much like a cat - before scurrying off, swearing revenge on the one that stole it's new home in the way evil little mice do best.

... Okay. The puppet was ialmost/i on the same boat as Hidan. No, no, he wasn't headless; he was ialmost/i pissed off. But this was Sasori we're talking about, here. His emotions don't go to extremes. Usually. "Itachi, I kindly advise you to shut up," he growled, turning only to give the weasel in question a very menacing 'say-anything-more-and-you-are-DEAD' sort of look.Well, maybe not idead/i dead. Maybe new puppet dead.

And then he continued on his merry little way. Where to? The room he shared with Deidara. Hopefully, the blond wasn't there. Then again, he didn't get back after washing the dishes, assuming he was finished. Knowing his luck, he'd either run into him on the way or find in him said room...

Tch. He paused once he reached the stairs, running a hand through his hair in a pointless gesture before slowly starting to climb them. So. The blond liked him enough to bother to call his mother and... Ask her... Stuff. Hmm. He'd have to have a little chat with the blond, even if it would probably upset him to know that the weasel had divulged in his little secret call, or whatever it was.

Instead of carrying Hidan's head around with him, Tobi placed him on a chair, wiping his hand quickly. Ew…he had mouse germs all over him. The halfwit wrinkled his nose at the obscenities. He was only trying to show his concern for the Jashinist. 'You swear too much, Hidan-sempai,' he muttered, traversing to pick up the dispersed fragments of his beloved mask. Maybe there was some glue in there and he'd be able to mend it. Things like that weren't that easily replaced.

Obviously, the weasel wasn't in the least frightened of the puppet master. If anything the threat was even more amusing for the teen. He sniggered mockingly, making no move to add any more comments. Once Sasori was out of vision, which for the Uchiha, was around twenty metres away, he returned his attention to the basement. Ooh…what should he do?

Deidara had now grown tired of the book. He wasn't much of a reader and got bored rapidly of such a past time. But all wasn't lost for the book which was now lying on the floor several feet away from the bed. It could be used as a tool to the artist to sleep in the evening. Quite liking his interpretation of Harry Potter, the blond was now making a sculptor of Fluffy the three headed dog using the three little wizards as a seat. Draco Malfoy laughing at them from afar. In the sculptor's eyes, the whole fucking series should've been about that kid. He was way more interesting than Harry. It soon occurred to him that it was very quiet. Tobi had stopped screaming…had Sasori finished mentally corrupting him? Hm…maybe Itachi had told him to stop…feh, whatever.

Once Tobi had set him - or at least currently the only living part of him - down on the chair, Hidan breathed a short sigh of relief. He hadn't been dropped, he could see more stuff now than he could when on the floor, iand/i Fuckwad could no longer reach him without putting some effort into it. He narrowed his eyes at the - albeit ihelpful/i in some sense of the word - twit at the little comment. "I do fucking not!" ... Well, okay, so he did. "... Shut the hell up, Tobi. Why in Jashin's name aren't we going iupstairs/i now?" Yeah, so he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, either. The decapitated head of a man pouted slightly, left eye twitching.

Damnit! He ihated/i not having his body at times like these. His fucking ear was iitchy/i and it was getting highly irritating. Of course, he could ask Tobi to scratch it for him, but that would require the idiot to touch him again.

Once again pausing as soon as he reached the second floor, Sasori glared at the wall infront of him. That stupid weasel of a kid needed to learn how to respect his friggin' elders. Then again, respect was something usually saved for Leader-sama... Tch. Being an annoying git must really run in the Uchiha bloodline. At least that was one good thing Itachi did; killed his own clan save for apparently two others. In the puppet's opinion, he did the world a favour, then.

Turning, he headed towards the shared room, mind trying to find other things to dwell on other than Deidara and what that stupid weasel told him about the phonecall. Expression dissolving back into the usual apathetic, uncaring stare, he stopped at the door for a short moment before reaching out, turning the knob, and pushing it open enough to pop his head in to see if the blond was there.

Which he was. Though that wasn't the first thing that occured to him when he saw the sculptor. What he noticed first was the little sculpture scene the clay artist was making. "... What are you doing?"

Tobi made no move to point out once again that the Jashinist had a very dirty mouth. Instead, like the good boy he was he went to see if the door was unlocked. He expected the two artists had scurried off and locked the door, leaving him and Hidan's head to rot away in the basement…with the ring girl puppet in a box. Though he thought said puppet was just temporarily knocked out. Luckily before he grabbed the doorknob to check if it was still locked he could feel heat being emitted though the metal. Someone was still there. 'Hidan-sempai? The doorknob's hot,' he stated, moving away from the door, not wanting to burn himself.

Tch…Maybe his cousin was just a little more aware of things than he had originally thought. Stupid annoying Tobi…burning the door down would have an interesting reaction…but it would release the beast from its cage…

The blond was too absorbed in what he was doing to hear the door open. Usually making sculptures didn't take up much concentration, but he was determined to make this look good he had to concentrate as much as possible. Upon hearing his partner ask what he was doing he jumped a little, almost dropping his composition. Though he managed to balance it on his palm without causing it to fall onto the floor and thus break. He looked back at his partner and smiled. He was tempted to say something sarcastic like "Laying an egg" but chose not to. 'Fluffy wanted a chair, so I gave him Harry, Ron and Hermione to sit on, un,' he replied, pretty proud of himself. 'But it's not finished yet.' Well yeah…Hermione's face was well…just a flat grey peice of...nothing.

The grumpy Jashinist watched Tobi go to check the door's locked-or-unlocked status, mulling over what order he should sacrifice the two artists in, first. Which would cause the most pain to the surviver? ... In that case, Sasori, then Deidara. The former was an emotionless puppet made of fuckin'... Damnit, wood. He wouldn't be iable/i to sacrifice the ass.

Hidan blinked slowly when the older Uchiha mentioned that the doorknob was hot. Huh? ... What was it with doorknobs and heat again...? Oh! Right. Always feel the doorknob if there is a fire in the house because doorknobs were metal and heated up faster than wood. Which would indicate fire. On the other side of the... "Fuck!" Some idiot must have caught the house on fire or something!

After a small moment of looking at the blond as if he had grown a second head or just announced that he was pregnant or something, Sasori shook his head slightly and opened the door the rest of the way, entering the room and closing it again. He made his way over to his bed and sat down, sparing a short glance over at that chart of Deidara's. Oh? His line... Thing... Had gone up. Apparently he had done something 'nice', though he couldn't remember iwhat/i.

The puppeteer looked shortly at the sculptor before closing his eyes, all the while staying quiet. He'd wait until his partner was done playing with his clay. Then he'd bring up the phonecall. Subtley. He'd just have to come up with the words to make it isubtle/i... Or subtle enough to make it obvious that Itachi had told. That sounded like a plant.

Since in that case, he wouldn't need to be subtle at all.

It took a few moment for Tobi to figure out why the Jashinist had sworn yet again. And he didn't react too kindly. First his arm had nearly been ripped off by some bird that had died in a well and now the house was on fire? Completely forgetting about the burning doorknob, he grabbed onto it and started tugging. 'LET US OUT!...OW!' Great. That was the second time in the same day that his hands had been burnt. Instead of using his precious and cauterized hands, he proceeded to throw himself at the door praying for it to magically open.

Deidara had once again turned his undivided attention to his little masterpiece. Almost done…his hand slipped when he heard another scream from downstairs. The teeth hand dragged across the three wizard's faces making them look horrifically deformed. His eyes narrowed and glazed over. It was decided. The next chance he got, he would kill the dimwit. Very slowly and very painfully. The blond placed his now ruined sculpture on the floor and groaned in annoyance placing his good hand over his face. This was another thing he hated. Spending time making a sculpture, only to then be distracted ruining it, causing all his effort and time taken to make the damn thing to be wasted 'Stupid Tobi,' the artist muttered through his hand. 'Stupid stupid stupid…stupid.'

Hidan had been silently sending prayers to Jashin seconds before Tobi started tugging at the doorknob and yelling. He blinked at the 'ow', staring blankly when the idiot started throwing himself at the door. In any other time, he would have found it highly amusing.

However, fire was probably the only thing the Jashinist wasn't all too fond of. It burnt things. Which pretty much meant it would either melt him into cannibal jam, or burn him into more ashes than Kakuzu would bother to stitch back together - if it were possible. And then he'd have to live out the rest of his existance like that, as he couldn't die. And that would ultimately isuck ass/i. "Fuckin' iharder/i Tobi! Hit it HARDER!" ... Of course, that sounded wrong. But did the immortal notice? Nope!

Zetsu stepped through the front door, scroll that he had been sent to retreive in one hand, other hand busy closing the door behind him. He was just in time, however, to hear Tobi's scream and Hidan's shout. The cannibal sighed quietly and narrowed his eyes. Just step out of the house for a moment, and--- ugh---! First he'd find out what was going on, then he'd get the scroll to Leader-sama. With that in mind, the over-grown plant started towards the source of the screams and the shouts; the basement.

The puppeteer looked to the door and tilted his head ever-so-slightly to one side at the scream. Hm, the Uchiha must have taken it upon himself to carry on tormenting the fools locked in the basement... Two redeeming qualities.

Sasori looked back at Deidara when said blond groaned and put a hand over his face, muttering a repeatative insult towards one of the imbeciles in the basement. Ha, it wasn't like clay was wood, which, once ruined, was ruined for good. To the red-head's knowledge, the stuff his partner had been messing with was still malleable. "Why don't you just fix it?" Surely it couldn't be ithat/i hard to do. It was only a lump of moldable dirt.

Being an imbecilic fool, Tobi didn't really notice how inappropriate the things the Jashinist was shouting. Instead, he obeyed and carried on slamming himself against the door harder, probably breaking a few bones in the process. 'I'm trying!' he announced. He stopped for a second to catch his breath before moving away from the door. Attacking the door from a close distance didn't seem to work, so maybe running at it from further away might cause it to open.

Itachi had been holding onto the doorknob the whole time, sending heat into it. He was biting his lip with great pressure to prevent himself from laughing at the dirty sounding cries of support coming from Hidan. He was oh so tempted to fling the door open as his cousin was about to run into it, but that would cause the creature to be set free from his prison. And annoyingly end the fun.

Was Sasori completely insane? Once one of Deidara's works of fine art had been ruined they were officially ruined. He looked to his partner, gritting his teeth. 'It's ruined,' he muttered, shaking his head, slightly peeved. Not at the puppet, but at the idiot trapped in the basement for breaking his concentration. Fine art was something transient, departing quickly made on the spur of a moment. As soon as the sculpture had exploded, the artist would never even consider it again. If the composition was corrupted it would not be given a second thought and be turned back into normal clay to be molded into a bomb another time.

Watching the idiot continue to throw himself at the damnable door, the Jashinist was doing something he never thought he'd do. Ever. He was hoping Tobi would succeed at something other than being an idiot. "If you really were fuckin' trying, the goddamn door would've fucking opened by now!" Ugh, if he had his body, he'd show the dumbass how to do it iright/i! ... Er, how to break doors down right, that is. Then something occured to him.

IF the idiot managed to break the door down, he'd most likely end up falling through, too. And into the fire. Successfully being burnt to death. Hidan would, in other times, love to see that - but right now, he kind'a depended on the idiot in order to move. For obvious reasons. Which also brought another thing to mind - what about his fucking body!? Fucking fire! "FUCK. Tobi, STOP trying to break the fucking door down!"

The loveable cannibal wasted no time in getting to the basement. Well, at least the basement door. He stopped in the doorway of one of the rooms who had a view of the cellar door - as well as Itachi. Zetsu could very well hear Tobi making an effort to break the door down in order to get out. Though he had to wonder why he could hear Hidan down there, too... Hm. His dark side mentally smirked and suggested it's own way to deal with the whole situation; merge into the house and get into the basement. Then break the door down, possibly ontop of the younger Uchiha...

But that would require damaging the house. And he had to go see Leader-sama after, so that probably wouldn't be a good thing to do. His light half sighed, before speaking up. "Let him out, Itachi." It didn't come out as demanding as he had wanted. Though, he idid/i just get back from a mission and he iwas/i tired.

But it was still imalleable/i! Sasori rolled his eyes. Sometimes he just didn't get Deidara... He could be as moody as a woman, sometimes. Of course, that was something he wouldn't exactly isay/i. On purpose, at any rate. "If you say so." No point in pressing the topic, right? If it's 'ruined' then it's ruined. Yep. Now for the fun part. Bringing up the phonecall iand/i pinning the blame on that stupid weasel so it didn't seem like ihe/i was the one that listened in.

The red head closed his eyes, sighed, then turned his head to one side. Now, how should he say this... "Itachi told me about your little phonecall." Okay, that was a good, easy way to put it. It didn't include that he had iasked/i the young Uchiha what it was about, either. Which was probably a plus.

The Uchiha looked over at his basement buddy, stuck firmly on the chair, and pouted. 'It's like there's a wall or sumthin' on the other side,' he stated. And considering his past experiences when it came to hard, rock like substances, they didn't seem to warm up to Tobi that much. Of course, he ignored Hidan's explicit cry, trying to prevent him from knocking the door down. He was determined to do it. Once he was as far away from the door as possible, he took a deep breath, preparing to charge at the door as a final blow, in effect, knocking it down and letting him escape. 'Don't worry, Hidan-sempai,' he grinned. 'I'll get us out of here.' And with that, he sprinted at the door, his shoulder in front of him to blow the door clean off its hinges.

Unfortunately for the halfwit, the younger Uchiha respected the cannibalistic plant man. Less than two seconds after he had been told to let Tobi out, in one swift movement, he unlocked and swung the door open, causing the charging idiot to crash into the stairs. 'I DID IT!' he exclaimed happily, jumping up, despite the pain of a single tooth which was now dangling by a thread from his gum. 'HIDAN-SEMPAI! I DID IT!' The fool then looked around frantically for any orange flames lurking around the area. But he found none. 'Where's the fire?' Ah, maybe someone extinguished it…

The weasel made his way up the stairs and glanced at Zetsu. 'Just for the record, I didn't put them in there,' he said firmly, before making his merry way into the living room.

Fuck. The blond was having a lot of trouble preventing his eyes widening in shock, causing them to twitch slightly. Now, that was not fair. He had specifically told the sharingan user not to tell Sasori. Wait…no…he only said "don't." But still...surely that would've got the message across. Urgh. This was probably the most awkward position Deidara had been in for years. Well…being rejected by his partner and confronted by Itachi earlier that day were pretty damn awkward…but nowhere near as awkward as this. Think. Cover up story. Quick. 'Yeah. I called my mother coz it's her birthday today,' the artist replied quickly. He didn't even know when his mother's birthday was, which was a little ignorant of him.

If ionly/i it were a wall and not fiery fi--- wait, fire wasn't hard... Hidan narrowed his eyes in a puzzled fashion, not noticing that the Tobi wasn't listening to his advice until said idiot said that he was going to get them out of there and sprinted at the door. Well. Was good knowin' 'im... Sort of. Okay, not really.

He averted his eyes and cringed when it came time for the imbecile to collide with the door, but when he didn't hear it happen, he looked back curiously. Well, the door was open... But there was no fire. What the hell? He spared a short stare at the happy twit, not bothering to comment, before he noticed isomeone/i going up the stairs. Thanks to his vantage point and just noticing them, he couldn't tell who it was. But even so, he was adding them to his growing hitlist.

The cannibal thus watched Tobi come running out and directly into the stairs. Erh... Maybe he should've opted for his dark half's suggestion. If said half could have done so, it would have been giving his other half a smug look. It settled for chuckling. He watched Itachi climb the stairs, frowning at what he had to say. Well, if he hadn't done it, who did? Hm, he'd have to ask later. Or maybe Tobi could say. Or Hidan. Speaking of those two...

Zetsu looked back down the stairs at his little... Friend, frowning slightly. Running into the stairs rather than the door must have hurt. Great, he'd probably have to 'play' doctor again before he brought the scroll to Leader-sama... "Tobi," his light half called down the stairs. "Are you all right?"

... That was the best lie Deidara could think up? Sasori reopened his eyes in order to give the blond a skeptical look. He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned, wondering whether or not he should bring up the one little fact that the weasel had also told him what the phonecall had been iabout/i. It would probably increase the awkwardness his partner was most liekly experiencing, ibut/i it would save the puppet much of the same thing in the future. However, if he let it slide... All would be fine, but it would pester the red-head immensely.

But he should let the sculptor know his lie... Sucked, right? It was only a inice/i thing to do. And it would allow him to improve. Criticism helped art; lying was a type of art, to some extent. "One, your explaination was suspiciously quick. Two, Itachi told me what the call was about, so it was useless, as well." He leaned forward slightly, propping his head up in one hand, elbow on his knee, eyes trying to catch his partner's. Just so he could tell easier if he lied again. "You know I can't return any ifeelings/i you may have for me, right? You're better off ifeeling/i for a brick wall."

Obviously, Tobi was far too excited to be worried about his dangling tooth or Hidan's head, which was still residing on the moth eaten chair in the basement. He pulled out his tooth and held it in his hand, beaming. So he would get meet a fairy after all! The Uchiha scurried up the stairs to Zetsu. 'Zetsu-saaaan, look!' he said happily, holding the tooth out in front of him. 'Deidara-sempai and Sasori-sempai said there was a fairy in the basement. But I never saw her. If I put this under my pillow will I get to meet to tooth fairy?' he asked gleefully. Hm…seemed like he hadn't been given the tooth-fairy-isn't-real-you-numbskull talk. 'The fairy locked the door and I couldn't get out.' The fool then looked around for the two artists. It still hadn't dawned on him that the whole locking him in the basement and being attacked by the ring girl puppet had been a cruel prank by them. He thought it had all been real!

Praying that his lie had sunk in, Deidara averted his gaze to the wall. In extremely inconvenient positions like this it was hard for him to look at his partner. Not wanting to attract too much attention, the blond was chewing on the inside of his lip, his mouth still firmly closed. But alas, the lie hadn't worked. Maybe he could just suggest that Itachi was the one who had been lying. But would that wash? Sasori had already pointed out that his last lie had faults. And he inwardly knew he was a terrible liar. He answered too quickly, too slow, averted his gaze, blinked too much. All the telltale signs of lying. But did Deidara ever learn from his mistakes? Certainly not. The sculptor looked at his partner pretty much prepared to burst into tears. He was desperate to say that Itachi had been lying, but just felt he couldn't. The feeling in his stomach was back again. Even more so than before. Slowly, he wrapped his good arm around his tummy and stood up. 'One of the reasons why I didn't want you to know, un,' he said quietly, a definite nervous quake in his voice. He then made his way towards the door, his eyes tightly shut.

Zetsu watched as Tobi scurried up the stairs to him, frowning and looking at the tooth the older Uchiha held, listening to the imbecile's explaination of iwhy/i he was in the basement in the first place. Deidara and Sasori were to blame, huh? He'd have to have a talk with them... Although his dark side was suggesting something oh iso/i much more entertaining. Tooth fairy... The cannibal tried not to grin. Oh, yes. Little Tobi would meet the toothfairy. Two of them. "Yes, you will, Tobi. Though it may take her a while to find the house," his dark side said, before his light side could give the little boy of a man the whole schpeel on how fairies, in general, didn't exist.

Of course, now, his light side was just going to stay quiet. Eugh, sometimes he hated his other half... Seeing that his little friend was all right, it was probably time to get his mission officially finished. "I have to go now, Tobi. Be a good boy." With that, he turned and went off to find Leader-sama. Wasn't good to keep him waiting longer than necessary.

Hidan, having listened to parts of the conversation that drifted down to him, frowned. Heyheyhey! Did that idiot forget about him or something? Was a damnable tooth of more priorty of someone missing their goddamn body?! "GODDAMNIT! DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME, ASSHOLE!" He really didn't want to be down there when Fuckwad wanted another new nest.

Perhaps having tried to look Deidara in the eyes had been a bad idea. Sasori could very well see the sadness in them - or at least the one that was visible - and it actually succeeded in making him... Feel, a little bad about what he had said. Although he did his damnedest not to show it, keeping his expression as apathetic, uncaring and icey as he could.

Though it faltered only slightly when the blond stood. The puppet, of course, noticed the nervous quake in his partner's voice, watching as he made his was to the door. Only when he couldn't see did the puppeteer frown - almost... Worriedly? Where was the brat igoing/i? Last time something similar to this happened, his fellow artist wound up going up onto the roof. In the rain. Which had been pretty stupid in itself... Surely he wouldn't do something equally idiotic if the red-head just let him go. But... This was an overly emotional and young man who often made stupid moves he was thinking about. That should be enough to know that he couldn't be trusted not to do something... Well. Dumb.

The puppet straightened, turning his gaze to the ground. Damnit. "... Deidara..."

Tobi squealed with excitement. He was going to meet the tooth fairy! If it helped, he probably would have run upstairs and gone straight to bed, pretending to be asleep. He had let the fact that the tooth fairy never appeared to those who were pretending to be asleep. But fixing his mask was currently his top priority. There was some superglue in the kitchen. He was about to head off to the kitchen in order to repair his most cherished possession when he head Hidan's angry shout. Ah…maybe he should go get his head and give it to Kakuzu to stitch it back to his body. The immature Uchiha stumbled back down the stairs and back into the basement. 'Sorry, Hidan-sempai!' he cried apologetically going to pick him up. Maybe throwing the motionless ring girl puppet out of the window would prevent it from finding its way back into the house. For at least the next six days. Tobi picked up the Jashinist's head and carried him back upstairs. 'Kakuzu-san'll fix you!'

Where to go? The roof was secluded…but also booby trapped, the garden was wet, the living room was probably being used and the ring puppet was still in the basement. Basically there was no place in the building Deidara could go and just stay by himself for a while. Heck, if it meant staying out of Sasori's way he'd just sit on the other side of the door. The scrunching of his eyes was proving to be ineffective to the tears that were seeping out. His hand was practically crushing the doorknob into a whole new shape just to help prevent him from crying. The blond opened his eyes when he heard his name being uttered by his partner. He turned his head to the side slightly, his fringe stopping him from looking at the puppet. What did he want now? Was he going to make fun of him or insult him again? The sculptor let go of the now dented doorknob and let his hand drop to his side. '…Un?' he mumbled quietly.

Good! The twit hadn't been out of hearing range or something equally disasterous. Hidan irritatedly watched Tobi make his way back into the basement, pretty much ignoring the little apology and focussing on another problem. Clumsy idiot, stairs, head. Eugh... Knowing his luck he'd wind up accidentally being dropped down them or something. Why the hell did he call the idiot back!? ... Well, at least rolling down the stairs would be less painful than being thrown, hitting the hard floor rather hard, bouncing, and hitting it again... Then being molested by a friggin' rat.

Next thing he knew, he was being picked up. Glee. Being immortal sucked sometimes. "He'd better," he grumbled. Oh, yes. Kakuzu had better fix him. He had a million and one things he wanted to shout at the goddamn 'itailor/i' afterwards, since then he could flee. Heh, heh... Oh, he knew something that would totally creep people out while he waited for Kakuzu to find him, unless they found him, first! "Tobi, instead of looking for my bitchy partner, bring me up to my room." And for once, the Jashinist didn't swear. It was... A miracle. Truly. And as an afterthought, he even added, albeit grudgingly, "... Please." ... If only because Tobi had gotten them upstairs without dropping him or something equally unpleasent.

Ah, Deidara had heard him. Both a good and a bad thing. Good because he wasn't going off to do something stupid or anything, bad because the puppeteer now had to think of something to actually say... The only reason he had wanted to gain the blond's attention seconds ago was because he didn't want him to leave. The room. That was all. Supposedly. Sasori kept his gaze to the ground, mind whirling fast as he tried to think.

Eventually, he did think of something. Two words, two stupid words. And he was supposed to be the smart one... Though he couldn't come up with anything better - and he was actually being icautious/i in his word choice, as he didn't want to make the current situation any worse. Times like these made him want to just make the sculptor into a puppet so that he wouldn't have to deal with these annoying emotions... "I'm... Sorry." And it almost sounded like he meant it, too.

Tobi was already on his merry way to the living room, hoping that the Akatsuki banker would be in there. He had let the fact that he had left the lousy kid's television programme on when he left the living room to go see the pretty fairy with rainbow wings in the basement slip his mind, and…being the imbecile he was, assumed someone was in there watching it. However, he paused when Hidan asked to be taken up to his room instead. But what if Kakuzu wasn't there? He was about to ask the head of a Jashinist that very question when "please" was added to the request. Ooh, it seemed he really wanted to go upstairs…and this would be another chance for the Uchiha to show what a good boy he was, 'Okay, Hidan-sempai!' he said happily, changing direction and making his way over to the stairs to take Hidan to his desired location at a quick pace. Once his little errand was completed he'd go off to find the cannibalistic plant man and tell him what a good boy he had been in helping the potty mouth.

Deidara felt glued to the spot. He should've ignored Sasori and left the room, not even bothering about where he was going to go. Though he wanted to leave, his feet didn't seem to obey him. He just stayed as still as one of his sculptures before given life. The blond was mentally preparing himself not to react with anything that the puppet was planning on saying. No doubt it would be some cold, cruel, homophobic comment. It was times like these when he wished he were deaf. Or…at least partially deaf. But the words that seeped from his partner's mouth were not of the sort he had been expecting. Nor were the words he would ever dream of the emotionless puppet ever saying. And he did react. The sculptor turned his head and stared at him wide eyed. Had…Sasori just…apologised? Now Deidara was wishing he could go back over to him. Well…partly. The other half was just telling him to go out the room and keep away from the puppeteer. He was so confused. He didn't know whether to scream at the red head in frustration or just accept the apology. The blue eyes looked over at the red and blinked slowly, letting salty tears drop onto his cheeks. '...Thank you,' he whispered.

Of course, Kakuzu actually iwas/i in the livingroom. Though he wasn't - thankfully - watching whatever the hell was on television. He was searching for something. He could have isworn/i he left his pocketbook somewhere around there... Damnit.

The head of a man mentally cheered. Good! Tobi hadn't asked any stupid questions! ... Hopefully he wouldn't be too creeped out to complete the second part of the Jashinist's little plan. It was a little... Unsavoury. If not downright unpleasant. And his grumpy old partner would probably get mad at the idiot for following the immortal's instructions if he, indeed, did. But... Did Hidan care? Hell no. The idiot could be - secretly - used for plantfood for all he cared! "Hurry up! ... And don't drop me!" What? He was still paranoid. Who wouldn't be, if they were but a head without a body in a known imbeciles hands?

Sure! The immortal liked pain. But not the kind produced by ones own head bouncing down the stairs like a plastic - not rubber - ball. That just resulted in a headache. The Jashinist didn't appreciate headaches. Plus, he already had one. Er... Two.

Perhaps he should have said something more. His little apology sounded stupid, pathetic, foolish -

- though apparently, it worked, if Deidara's words were anything to go by. Given that that was who had had apologized to... Speaking of which, the last time he remembered doing ithat/i was when he was a kid. Ah, memories... Sasori looked up only then, eyes trying for the blond's again, letting the slightly concerned look linger for a moment longer before letting it dissolve into his usual apathetic stare. Then he shook his head at the 'thank you' - why would the sculptor bother to think someone who continued to hurt him and make him cry? That was... What, the second largest time in less than two days? Eugh... One of the many things he couldn't understand.

Even though he did want an answer to that new question of his, the red-head stayed quiet, mulling over what to do or say. Maybe it would be best to say nothing. He didn't want to chance saying anything that would upset the blond. Again. Whatever... Now that he had said what he had to say, his partner would do whatever the heck he wanted to. The puppet closed his eyes, looking rather meditative. He, for one, was apparently finished with the matter. Even if that one, irritating part of his mind he didn't quite succeed in killing off all those long years was telling him to go over there and wipe those damn tears away. Though, of course he did his damnedest to ignore that irritating little voice.

They could at least try hacking. I've seen loadsa sites that promise to give gold and just rob you and people actually believe them. The dude who sent me the message was obviously desperate. He was only wearing pants D:

Determined to be as a good a boy as possible, Tobi obeyed the Jashinist, practically sprinting up the stairs, almost slipping and falling over on a couple of occasions. 'Why hurry?' he asked a little confused about the whole speeding up all of a sudden thing. Walking slower would still get them upstairs even though it would take longer. But the twit didn't slow down, just in case it made him seem any less of a good boy. He was like a freakin' dog fishing for praises. Once he had reached the floor decorated with the organisation members' bedrooms he went over to Hidan and Kakuzu's shared room and opened the door. Of course…there was no big scary stitched up dude. 'He's not here, Hidan-sempai,' the Uchiha announced as if the head had lost his vision or something and needed the most obvious things to be pointed out for him. Tobi began to move back and carry on the search for the banker. Or…at least that's what he thought he was mean to be doing. 'Let's go find him!' he cried, bouncing off down the corridor.

Once Deidara had managed to get the feeling back into his legs, he shuffled over to his bed again. Was that it? Was that all Sasori had to say? It wasn't as if the blond had expected more…he just hoped for more. Well…nice things at least. He didn't really want to hear any more things that would evidently make him upset again. He lay back on the bed, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, racking his brain out, trying to think of something he could say. Something normal. Something that would just ward off the awkwardly heavy tension. Wait…what was that? An annoying voice coming from outside. The blue eyes moved to stare at the door and narrowed. Either someone was having fun imitating Tobi's voice or the idiot had somehow escaped from his prison. Well…even though the sculptor wasn't too ecstatic about the idiot managing to get out two days before his release date, it sure gave him something to say. 'Tobi got out,' he muttered, his eyes still boring into the door.

The Jashinist developed a new hate for stairs and Tobi, cringing everytime he almost slipped up. What was worse than bouncing down the stairs? Being accidentally smashed into them! Hidan didn't bother answering the older Uchiha's rather stupid question, muttering something incomprehensible under his breath instead. Seeing as how the idiot didn't slow down anyway, it would've been a waste of said breath.

The immortal had been hoping Kakuzu wasn't in the room, and could obviously see so without the idiot having to announce it. Now, all he needed to do was- "HEY!" Continuing the search for his bitchy-ass partner was inot/i part of his plan. Sure! It could have helped for him to have said so in the first place, but... Whatever! "Let's inot/i! Go the fuck back! I wanted you to do something!" Argh! It was very, very iagitating/i to not have hands around Tobi. The urge to hit him was just... So... So... Goddamn iirresistable/i!

The puppeteer simply listened as his partner shuffled over to his own bed, somehow glad that he didn't leave - with a mental excuse of 'because he'd do something stupid anyway'. What was it with the damn brat? He was actually able to make him... Feel something. Which was iirritating/i. Okay, so he was sort of feeling-phobic to some degree... It had, after all, been one of the things he did what he did to himself. And one of the things that kept him from feeling for the blond. Other than that...

Sasori's thoughts came to a halt at Deidara's muttering. He had heard the ever-so-annoying voice outside, in the halls, just then, as well. And seconds later, the other rather annoying voice. The red-head re-opened his eyes, grimacing slightly. "He has Hidan with him, too." As if anyone that was upstairs at the moment didn't already know that. Great, that could only mean one of two things... Itachi got bored and decided to unleash the horrible idiots on everyone again, or Zetsu was back. In which case, he hoped the idiot didn't say anything about them and the whole fairy biz. "Is the door locked?"

Maybe Kakuzu had been in the living room after all. Yes, that's the first place that Tobi would start searching. If he weren't there he'd try…oh. He came to a halt in his bouncing and held the head of a Jashinist out in front of him, blinking at him. Oh! So he didn't want to find the greedy man. Okay, then. Obediantly, the Uchiha turned around and went back over to the bedroom. 'What do you want me to do, Hidan-sempai?' he asked excitedly. Ooh, did he want him to run errands for him seeing as he had no body. Aw, brilliant! Or maybe he wanted him to go find his body. Well, whatever it was, the buffoon was prepared to do it.

Now…what should Deidara do to avenge the loss of his lovely sculpture? Luring Tobi was into the basement would be pretty easy. Perhaps if he left a trail of sweets from the idiot's room leading all the way down to his previous prison would work. If something completely irrational like saying "There's a pretty fairy in the basement! Come look!" managed to lure him, surely something more normal would work too. At the puppet's comment on Hidan accompanying Tobi, the blond began to wonder how the hell they had managed to escape. Well, that was a fun ruiner. Even though…they hadn't actually been spectating when the two got out. He then glanced over at his partner. Hm…was it locked? All he had done to the door was practically smash the doorknob into pieces with his fist. In response he shrugged. 'You were the last one in, un.' Wait…was he planning on having another "talk" with him. And having the door locked would prevent them from being disturbed. Craaaap. Sasori's last "talk" made Deidara fear for his life. And believe it or not….he did not like it one bit.

The bouncing, the Jashinist had concluded, was worse than being rolled down the stairs. He was relieved when it finally stopped - it felt less like his brains were going to fall out through his rat-eaten neck. Eew... Just the thought of temporarily being as brainless as the idiot iwould/i have given Hidan the heebi-jeebies if he wasn't just a head.

When they were back at the bedroom did Hidan bother to answer the idiot's question. The most recent one, anyway. "Simple, Tobi. Push my head onto the doorknob," he answered, as if it were the greatest plan in the world. Hey, seeing someone's head in place of the normal fixture would at least creep ione/i person out, right? And if it gave Kakuzu a heart attack when he grabbed something squishy instead of something hard, it would be a plus. Though he doubted that would ever happen.

Okay, if that were the case, the door iwasn't/i locked. It hadn't been when he had entered, and he hadn't locked it before he went over to his bed. Crap. Though... It sounded like the two official Moron's were going elsewhere. Which was a good thing. Definately a good thing.

Contrary to Deidara's beliefs, Sasori wasn't planning on having another little 'talk' with him. Well... Not at the moment, anyway. The recent issue had - sort of - been addressed. He had just wanted to see if the door was locked becaused he didn't quite want either of those idiots in the room. It would be too close to his precious puppets...

"Hn. Probably won't matter, anyway," he muttered to himself, sending a slight glare at the door before shaking his head slowly. Then he noticed the poor, abused little doorknob, and sent one of his usual emotionless glances towards his partner. "You're going to have to fix that, you know."

Tobi blinked as the request began to sink in. 'Eeeew,' he whined, scrunching up his face. But he still didn't resign and refuse to do his little task. Feeling a little disgusted, the Uchiha pushed the Jashinist's head onto the doorknob. Maybe not that snuggly, seeing as the head fell and hit the floor. 'OH GOD! SORRY, HIDAN-SEMPAI!' he cried very loudly, picking up the head and dusting him down a bit. Ew…he'd got some of the potty mouth's brains on his hands. Lovely. This time he was much more careful about placing Hidan's head on the doorknob, keeping one hand against his forehead and the other underneath, just in case he happened to fall again. It looked like he was going to stay there, though. 'I think I've done it,' he said happily. Good! He hadn't managed to drop him again.

Hn. The doorknob wasn't his property…so why the hell should he worry about fixing it? Sir Leader bought the house and along with that, any damages caused…wait…no…that wasn't right. Any damages caused would be taken out of the members' wages, right? And Deidara certainly didn't want his money to be taken to repair the doorknob. Slowly, the blond sat up and picked up his ruined sculpture, the mouth on his good arm beginning to chew at one of Fluffy's three heads. If he was going to have to fix the doorknob, might as well make it artistic, right? The blond made his way over to the door and placed the freshly kneaded clay over the doorknob, smoothing it out. He back away from it to examine his attempt of "fixing" it. If room inspections just so happen to occur, he would no doubt be questioned about the doorknob's somewhat strange appearance. The artist began digging through the cupboard. He knew he had left it there. 'Pah…pah…pah…pah…' he mumbled to himself in his search. Until he found what he was looking for. 'Paint!' He took the gold paint back over to the door and proceeded to begin painting the doorknob a more doorknobish colour.

The 'eeeew' caused the Jashinist to snicker before he twitched at the cold feeling of the doorknob entering up through his neck. And then the sudden pain of abruptly hitting the floor. Okay... Stairs, stairs, and more stairs, and inow/i he falls! What damnable luck. "OW! FUCK! GODDAMNIT!" He cringed when the idiot that had indirectly dropped him in the first place picked him back up. And dusted him off a little. Hidan's left eye twitched irritably - he could practically ifeel/i the brain cells leaking out of his head...

Oh dear Jashin. What if by the end of all this mess, his brain was just a pile of greyish-pink goo?! He could end up like... Like... Tobi!

He blinked at the asforementioned idiot's happy words before finally noticing he was back on the doorknob - and a little more istable/i this time. The immortal sighed in mild relief, and would have nodded. Uhm... If he had the ability to at the moment. "Yeah. iThanks/i," he muttered sarcastically. Well, at least he was out of the idiot's hands. And now said idiot could leave him be and go do what idiots do while he waited for ole fugly-face - erm,... Kakuzu.

While waiting for the blond's reaction, Sasori pretty much spaced out, momentarily lost in his own thoughts. One track of thoughts he, for the pure heck of it, decided to follow, centered around that stupid plush toy. He had settled on giving it to Deidara - since, why would he, an old man in a preserved and puppetized wooden body, want a plushie? ... Seriously? Now all he had to do what decide on the iwhen/i and ihow/i. He didn't want it to seem like he cared or anything. Because he didn't. Nope.

He rose a brow, watching his partner sit up and do 'his thing' with the supposedly ruined sculpture. That was one thing that mildly amused the puppeteer - those palm-mouths of his fellow artist. Hm. Before his mind wandered down the road of 'theoretically how to keep those working if he went ahead and made little Dei into a puppet', he shook his head and forced those thoughts away.

They were quickly replaced, too. Clay? For fixing a doorknob? Great. In the middle of the night, now, when one of them had to go do something, it would probably explode and wake everyone up... Tch. He let his eyes follow the sculptor on the blond's little search for... Something... Ah. Paint, then rolled his eyes. Oh, whatever. iIf/i the damn thing exploded, the brat would get an earful. Until then, he'd just let the idiot 'fix' it his own way. Cheaper than buying a new one.

... Kakuzu would be proud.

While Deidara was doing that, Sasori peered around his bed until he found his discarded bags. He dragged them up, shuffling further back on his bed so that he could safely put them infront of him. Now would be the perfect time to organize things - which he started to do, carefully pulling out the sheets of metal, first - though he'd have to be careful in keeping that damn plush out of sight. Hum.


	11. Chapter 11

Yeahso. Thank-you, you two reviewer people! And to answer your question, x-EliteAssassin-x, the i/i thing... Heh, forum code without the brackets. I type them in and wind up saving them... I'm too lazy to go picking through to delete them. nn' Scene break... Hee I want to edit this as little as I possibly can (in other words, not at all) so... Yeah. The summary thing though, I agree. ButIcan'tthinkofone. Though I'll... Try. NOW, without further rambling...

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Once Tobi was pretty sure that Hidan's head wasn't going to fall off again, he backed away and grinned. Looked like that was all the immortal wanted him to. Now he could go tell his dear sweet Zetsu what a good boy he had been. The Uchiha scraped his fingers through the gap of the door and opened it. He didn't want to use the head to open it. That was just…well…sick. 'If you fall again, just shout for me, Hidan-sempai!' he announced before making his merry way downstairs and to finish watching his cartoons. If someone else hadn't claimed the remote for themselves that is.

There. Done. Now all that was left to do was let the paint dry. Which meant no one was allowed in and no one was allowed out. Unless they wanted their hand to be gold. Deidara locked the door and then went to get the hairdryer. Hell, it was better to use that than just let the paint dry at its normal pace. It seemed like the paint had already begun to dry anyway. Probably acrylic. The blond then returned with the device and started to dry the new artistic doorknob. Once he was sure it had dried, he went to return the hairdryer to its home. Oh? Sasori was sorting through his shopping. Cautiously, the sculptor wandered over to his partner's bed, his arms behind his back. It now seemed he was able to move his damaged arm a little without feeling any pain shoot through it. Good news. He stopped when he was practically looming over the him, trying to see what was in the bag. 'What did you buy, Danna?' he asked. Well, if he were going to have no chance of being with the puppet, it wouldn't hurt to carry on being friendly, right?

The Jashinist was highly glad Tobi didn't use his head to open up the door. He didn't really want the idiot touching him any more than necessary - he already felt dirty enough. Hidan grunted at the little announcement, left eye stiff twitching. Perhaps something was going down with part of his brain... Ah, well. He'd get it fixed, later.

Though if by chance he did fall back off of the doorknob, there was no way in the deepest pits of hell was he shouting for that twit. He'd find his own way back up there using the all might powers of Jashin! ... Yeah, his brain was definately turning to goo. Whose idea was it to put his head on the damn doorknob again, anyway? Oh, right - his. But if there was any lasting damage, he was iso/i going to blame it on Tobi, anyway. Now. To act like a doorknob.

Downstairs, in the livingroom, Kakuzu had finally given up on looking for his pocketbook. He just... Couldn't find it. It wasn't like it was too important, anyway - he had backup copies - but losing one istill/i lost him the money that it had cost to buy it. So instead, he had turned to see just what the hell was on the television that sounded so happy and cheerful and - and the tune... It was now successfully stuck in his head.

Fucking cartoons. Who, in a bunch of S-Class criminals, watched icartoons/i, anyway? ... Oh, right. About three people. He sighed. As long as that didn't become common knowledge... Who'd be able to take them seriously, then?

The puppeteer looked up breifly when he heard the hairdryer turn on before returning his attention to what he was doing. The sheets of metal lay off to his left, and he was starting to pile the unusually light wood to his right. He kept the new bedsheets in the bag for the moment, to block the plushie from view. Which was a good thing.

Sasori listened as the hairdryer was turned off moments later before being returned to it's usual spot. He continued to listen as Deidara made his way over, getting - in the puppet's opinion - obnoxiously close. He was pretty much determined inot/i to let the sculptor see the plush toy, after all. Before he answered, he immediately pushed the mouth of the bag down, so that the opening was thusly closed. "Nothing of interest to you, I'm sure," he answered slowly, clearly. As if speaking to an idiot, almost. "Just materials." ... Well, at least it was the truth. Or part of it, anyway.

The blond artist remained looming over the puppeteer for a few seconds before tilting his to one side. 'I am interested. That's why I'm asking, un,' he insisted. He began to feel a little suspicious of his partner. The way he had closed the bag down was a little bizarre. Leading Deidara to presume there was something in the shopping bag that he wasn't meant to see. And what was the first thing that came to mind? The blue eyes widened in surprise and well…excitement. Was there a porno magazine lurking in there? He was about to ask that question and if he could have a look too, but decided against it. Sneaking a look in the bag later on when Sasori had momentarily gone out of the room would be a much better option. The sculptor backed away a little, his gaze still boring into the bag, hoping that if he tried hard enough he would be able to see through it. He then glanced at his partner impatiently. 'Show meeeeeee, un,' he whined, swaying a little in a childlike manner.

Too sickened to go over and change the channel, Kakuzu left the livingroom to head up to his room. Well, his and Hidan's... But, the Jashinist was currently out of commission. So it was his.

It didn't take him long to reach ihis/i room. Well, sure, he had to take a detour to avoid that one idiot... But hey, he got there quick enough. He opened the door and entered, about to bug off and go to sleep, but before that---

"KAKUZU, WHERE THE FUCK IS MY BODY?!"

"HOLY FUCK! WHAT THE HELL?! HIDAN, YOU PRI-"

He spun around, stopped short of his sentence when he saw what he saw. "-ck... Do I iwant/i to know why your head is impaled on the doorknob? iOr/i how you managed to get out of the basement, in the first place?"

The immortal was too busy cackling at his partner's reaction to answer; but if he had the ability to, he would have shook his head.

"Hn." The puppeteer moved to half-heartedly glare at the annoying blond, firmly keeping the bag shut and the contents within a secret. Great, great, igreat/i. He'd probably have to hide the bag somewhere, now, or least one item out of it's contents... Which would mean he'd either have to drag the damn thing around with him for a while, or find a reason for Deidara to leave the room for a moment.

Sasori's eyes narrowed when he caught the surprised and excited look in his partner's visible eye. He really had a feeling that if he knew what the blond was thinking, he'd wind up hitting said blond over the head with a nice, thick wooden board. Thank Kami for not being able to read minds. He watched the clay artist for a moment more before shaking his head and looking away.

"No, Deidara. What's in this bag is none of your concern." Almost unconciously, he dragged the mentioned bag a little closer to himself. "Stop being nosey. You're liable to get it cut off," the red-head threatened. Though it probably would have been more of a threat if he had a knife or a pair of scissors with him at the moment.

In annoyance, the blond puffed out his cheeks. That wasn't fair! He could at least hint instead of just insisting it didn't concern him. His eyes narrowed when the puppet pulled the bag closer. Whatever was in there, his partner was being too damn protective over it. All Deidara wanted was to look. Surely there was no harm in that. As a last resort, he was about to snatch the bag away from the red head's grasp, but was stopped by the shouts of the two immortals from their room, which caused him to jump slightly. As the volume was quickly reduced, the Iwa nin removed his eyes from the wall. 'Sometimes I think they argue more than us, un' he muttered, sniggering a little. If that was even possible. Bizarrely enough, the pair hadn't actually argued that day. The closest thing they had got to a scream fest had only just occurred. The blond then blinked and flung his hand to his nose with a quite horrified squeak. 'Noooo,' came his muffled voice from under his hand. 'I need that, un.' It wouldn't hurt to just try asking again before giving up and going to bury in head into one of his pillows. 'Please, un.'

Kakuzu, none too gently, pulled Hidan's head off of the doorknob. And purposely dropped him. "Oops."

"OW! Goddamnit! Kakuzu, you ass!" The immortal, unfourtunately, landed on his face. He would have glared at the offending stitched man if he could have. Damnit, he wanted his body!

It was the banker's turn to cackle - or, snicker - and snicker he did, before stopping down and picking up his partner's head by the hair, walking over to the Jashinist's bed, and just throwing it on there before turning to go to his own. Ah, but that was not to be. At least not peacefully.

"KAKUZU! WHERE. IS. MY. FUCKING. BODY?!"

Kakuzu sighed, rubbing his temples. "I gave it to Zetsu. He wanted to borrow it for a while."

:... Hidan twitched. Angrily. "WHAT THE FUCK?! And you let him take it?!"

And then the volume was back. Sasori wasn't aware that arguing duo in the next room over had saved his poor bag from an attempted snatching, and he probably wouldn't care if he was. They were even more loud than he and Deidara during their own little arguments... The red-head frowned, nodding slightly in agreement to the blond. "They probably do. They iare/i stuck with each other for a long, long time." That alone would probably cause a few fights amongst the two immortals.

Then again, he was immortal, too. And stuck with the blond. But then, the blond had a limited life span; he wasn't immortal. Which consisted of part of the 'feeling' problem. When it came to said blond, at any rate.

Tch - ah, well. He returned his eyes to his partner, still frowning - though now it was in disapproval. "If you need it, stop persisting that I show you what's in the bag." He paused, imentally/i smirking at his own next words. "Or when our time is up, I'll get that ring-girl to take you, first." Well, if the nose threat didn't work, he may as well try a different one, right? And why not play around with one that was based on a horror from only a night ago?

That was true. The pair of immortals would end up living in each others pockets for maybe a few more hundred years. How frustrating. Being forced to go on missions and sharer the same room with someone they despised. Even though there were good points of living forever, there were many more bad points. Oooh! Finally! Sasori was going to reveal the somewhat intriguing thing that was in the bag. The blond would've added an "I do need it,2 just to get his point across…even though he didn't really. He was just overly interested and nosey. His excited expression changed dramatically when his partner made a threaten concerning the ring girl. Now, that was mean. The red head knew how much the film had disturbed Deidara. He let out a wail of worry and quickly went over to his bed and collapsed onto it, his face submerged in the pillow. As far as he was concerned, if carrying on whining about the contents of the bag earned him to be killed by the little girl emerging from the television first he'd just give up. Such will power.

Kakuzu shrugged, turning and walking over to his dresser-drawer and momentarily ignoring his partner's aggrivated cursing and shouting. After rummaging around in one of the drawers, he plucked out a pair of thankfully washed socks and made his way back over to the doorknob wannabe, Hidan.

Who immediately stopped his cursing and shouting in order to close his mouth as tightly as he could.

The sock-weilding immortal snickered. "Now be a good moron and istay/i quiet." The words earned him a glare and a growl, but there was no way the doorknob wannabe was opening his mouth with ithose/i things anywhere near him.

The puppeteer smirked as the blond worriedly wailed and left his obnoxiously close post to hurry over to his bed. He reached into the bag, taking out the bedsheets and leaving the plsuh before looking up and over at Deidara. Heh... Scaring him could be so much fun. "Soon our time is going to decrease to five days. Then four," he paused, sighing in a mockingly depressed fashion. "Then three. Soon enough, we're going to be on our last day. I wonder who she'll go after, first?"

Eugh, he'd have to go down and get the puppet back upstairs in order to fix it up for it's final performance... Which could be accomplished easily with a scroll. He just needed to avoid being seen working on it... Oh! Yes. He'd also have to work on making a rather convincing copy of himself in order to stage his own demise. It would be easier to control the puppet without being seen... Heh, it was going to be such a ifun/i week. Well... Okay. Not so much fun as it was going to be annoying.

And it was going to be even more irritating, still! Zetsu had finished his business with Leader-sama, figuring it would be a good time to visit the artistic pair. Both his halves were scheming away, though they had settled on one, certain little thing; Tobi was going to see some fairies.

Specifically... Two. One blond, one red-headed. And in order to be pretty tooth fairies? ... Female! Which wouldn't be much of a problem... He already had two obvious solutions to that.

The cannibal hurried through the hallways away from the Leaders room along to his destination, which, truthfully, didn't take him all that long to get to. Once he reached his target, he of course stopped at the door and proceeded to knock politely. Two, light raps on the door.

Another muffled wail came from Deidara's mouth. If only he were deaf. If only he could block his ears from picking up anything he didn't want to hear. If. Meaning he had to listen to what his partner was saying. In a mad attempt to get him to shut up he flung a pillow projectile at the human puppet, unable to aim because his vision being blocked by the pillow. 'Be quiet, un,' he whined. Due to his face being, in essence, squished into the pillow, the last phrase came out of "Ee iet, uh." Which was probably highly understandably to the red head. As another endeavour to block out his hearing, he covered his ears with his only remaining pillow, but to no prevail. Then came the knock on the door. Being too busy preventing his ears from working, the sculptor made no move to get up a go answer it, so as a sign for his dear sweet danna to go see to whoever was waiting behind the door he simply waved his arm at it. Oops. Wrong arm. Thus making the sculptor to practically scream into the pillow. Okay…maybe his Uchihasmashed limb still wasn't useable.

However, as soon as the socks were out of Kakuzu's hands whilst said immortal got ready for a nice little nap... Ah, yes.

Hidan again went on a bit of a verbal rampage. "Kakuzu, you PRICK! WHY DID YOU LET ZETSU BORROW MY FUCKING BODY?! DAMNIT! I probably don't even HAVE a body anymore!"

The stitched man sighed irritably, pondering whether or not he should throw the Jashinist's head back down into the basement where it had been before... It had been so peaceful. "He's just making sure it doesn't rot and start to stink like fuck or something. I'll get it later. Now... iShut up/i, or I'll shove the socks I'm currently iwearing/i into your fucking mouth."

... That definately got the silver-haired man to go silent.

Sasori snickered quietly at the muffled little wail, an eerie grin making it's way onto his face. Yep, torturing Deidara was so---

Poomph! Face full'a pillow. He hadn't seen ithat/i coming. The red-head blinked owlishly when the pillow fell from being in his face, into his lap, and the muffled, mangled words reached his ears. His grin turned even creepier, if that were possible. Time to scare the clay artist shitless, take ---

His creepy grin turned upside down when someone knocked on the door. He half-heartedly glared at his partner when said blond motioned for ihim/i to go answer it - though the glare turned amused as the scream-like muffled noise danced through the air. Served him right.

But, anyway - the door. With a rather irritated sigh, the puppet - carrying the bag protectively along with him - got up from his bed and made his way over, opening it. And coming face-to-face with... Zetsu. Crap.

Said cannibal plant man simply stared at him for a moment before a somewhat disturbing look washed over him. This wasn't gunna be good.

"You and Deidara..." His light half started, although his dark half quickly took over. "bWe need to talk to both of you... About that fairy thing.../b" Again, his lighter half cut in. "Tobi wants to see fairies... Pretty-" the plantman paused and glanced over in the general direction of the two immortal's rooms when he heard his name, before continuing, looking back to the one who had answered the door. "- fairies..."

Oh, fuck.

Both halves continued simultaniously, for once. "biWe want you two to dress up... And we /iwon'ti take no for an answer./b/i"

If it wouldn't be a totally useless gesture, the puppeteer would have slammed the door in the cannibal's face right then and there. Instead, he simply stared. Surely he wasn't serious...

Hn. So his little gesture seemed to work and make Sasori go answer the door. Once the door was open, Deidara turned his head a little to see who was there. And namely, what the hell they wanted. Upon seeing the cannibalistic plantman, his reaction seemed to mimic that of his partner's. So…to pretend he was asleep or something, he resubmerged his face into the pillow again. He was now taking back all his previous thoughts about wishing to be deaf and scolding himself for daring to even think about such irrational things. Well…maybe his idea of being able to stop his hearing every now and again wasn't something to be shunned. Maybe Zetsu was just there coz he was looking for Tobi. Even though…finding the masked man wouldn't be particularly hard now, would it? Ah crap. So the schizo had somehow found out. Though the blond guessed that Tobi had told him. Stupid Tobi… Though he carried on listening to Zetsu's little "request." Oh…the fairy thing? Why the fuck hadn't the flytrap dude told the Uchiha that fairies didn't exist? It would've been so much easier…for the two artists that is. Pretty fairies? Why not go get Itachi. He wouldn't resign. That kid was in love with himself and knew he was pretty. But Deidara couldn't help but feel a little…hopeful. Hopeful that his partner would agree. Because he thought the puppet was pretty. And…secretly wanted to see him in a fairy outfit. If this order wasn't going to be for Tobi, he probably would've agreed straight away. It was just the fact that it was for him that made the blond's skin crawl.

Sasori peered over his shoulder, back at his supposedly sleeping partner, Deidara. Ugh... It didn't look like he was going to get any help from ihim/i... He was going to have to face Zetsu and his... Odd... Little 'request' alone until 'game time' came. Great. Just great. Maybe he could fake his death iearlier/i than planned. Though that would throw off the whole seven days thing...

Goddamnit. He looked back to the canniballistic plantman infront of him, eyes narrowing at said plant's rather expectant look. Hmph. If he idid/i say no, the flytrap would probably threaten to eat the blond and stick him with Tobi. That would suck even more... At least dressing up was temporary. As long as Tobi didn't itry/i anything... That would be just creepy. Even for the puppet. "... Fine."

Zetsu's lighter half grinned slightly - though his dark half remained neutral, so it looked like a smirk, instead. "Perfect... We'll be back with the costumes tonight..." Tobi wouldn't have to wait after all. His plan was, so far, going perfectly well. He nodded just slightly before turning and going back down the hall; he had nothing more to do until that night. Might as well go check up on the garden.

The puppeteer shut the door none-too-gently after the walking-talking plant had left, spinning around and stalking back over to his bed, more-or-less... Pissed off. Well, that had backfired so damn well. They were going to have to wear dresses and dress like women...

... He was going to get to see Deidara in a dress.

The red-head fought the smirk that was threatening to form at that thought, collapsing back on his bed and looking over at the blond. Okay, so maybe it wouldn't be itoo/i bad. As long as they didn't have to put on make-up, high-heels and friggin' wings or 'perform' for the masked idiot in any way. "I hope you heard all that,"he muttered, dropping the bag beside him to grab the pillow the other artist had thrown at him before the plant came by and thus throwing the pillow projectile right back at him.

Stupid Sasori. He shouldn't've agreed. Deidara would much rather have had both his arms ripped off on different occasions and feed them both to Zetsu than dress up as a fairy. Wow. Looked like he would be very excited about a certain mission that the two artists would have to accomplish very soon. A certain mission when one of those arms would be ripped off. Luckily, he had mouths on both palms. The blond sat up and grumbled under his breath. 'Un,' he muttered. He'd never dressed up as a woman before. That, or he just couldn't remember doing so. But people tend to do pretty crazy and embarrassing things during childhood, so who knows? What was the plantman planning on giving them to wear? Skirts coming up to the thigh and low cut tops was a big no-no in little Deidei's mine. Wait…where the hell was he planning on getting the clothes from? Surely, it's not every day when a dude that looks like he's being eaten by a venus flytrap goes into a shop to buy two fairy outfits. Being too caught up in his thoughts of what exactly Zetsu was going to make him wear, he hadn't been ready for his projectile pillow to backfire. The blue eyes narrowed on his partner. But in a jokey fashion more than an "I'm gunna fucking kill you" fashion. Hmm…If this was going to work, he'd have to make the human puppet look a little bit more…presentable. With that, the sculptor reached into his hair and pulled out the red ribbon that tied up his ponytail and shook his head as the blond hair fell down. He then got up off his bed and made his way over to the other's bed. This was going to be fun. Roughly, the blond took a clump of red hair and attempted to tie some of it up with the ribbon. Thank God the puppet had no physical feelings. If Sasori had been doing this to Deidara, screams of pain would probably have been heard throughout the whole building. 'Now I gotta give you some make-up, un!' he giggled.

Score! The puppeteer smirked at the expression the return pillow projectile had earned him before looking elsewhere, away from his partner. Namely, over to the closet he kept Hiruko and various other crap in. Perhaps he could throw together quick puppet and use chakra to make it look like him? That way, it technically wouldn't be him that would have to wear the dress... Though it would also require a lot of sneakiness on his part. Or just somehow coming up with a way to get Deidara out of the room for a moment...

Speaking of said blond. Sasori noticed him approaching much too late; out of the corner of his eyes he saw the other artist, hair idown/i - which made him look infinitely more feminine than when it was down - then BAM. The idiot was doing isomething/i with his hair and that cursed ribbon used to keep that gravity-defying ponytail up, and though the puppet couldn't feel it, exactly, he could very well tell it was none too gently. Which just meant the sculptor was pretty damn ilucky/i he couldn't feel it.

"Deidara. iStop it/i." The red-head growled, eyes narrowed to slits - he looked even more angry than he did when Zetsu had left after spouting his asinine, stupid little dress-up-for-Tobi thing. But who was this rage directed at, this time? Yeah, that was corr--- wait. What? Make-up!? Oh, ihell/i no! A hand darted up to grab for one of the blond's wrists. He didn't icare/i which one. As long as it made the idiot stop what he was doing...

Dressing like a girl, he could tolerate. Deidara messing with his hair... He could barely tolerate. Mentioning make-up and implying on using it on him? ... Cosmetics were one domain he refused to set foot into. Even jokingly.

Okay. So maybe losing both arms was a little bit more annoying than performing as fairies for Tobi. He winced slightly and pulled back and out of the puppeteer's grip to examine his wrist, which was now decorated with red marks. Ah, good. At least he wasn't going to suffer from two useless arms. His "good" arm seemed to have taken little damage. His attention then returned to his now ponytailed partner. 'I was joking, un,' he insisted. Jeez. He really took the blithe-hearted things that the blond said too seriously. Then he grinned. 'It suits you like that, un,' he giggled. Hm…maybe that wasn't the wisest thing to say. It might eventually end up with him being hospitalised. But Deidara was in quite an annoying mood now. Even though most of the time these moods end in tears. And lots of them. The blue eyes then moved to the plastic bag. Oh, how he wanted to steal it and look at the contents. But he prevented himself from doing so. Which was hard. 'Please show me what's in there, un,' he whined pleadingly.

The puppet mentally sighed in slight relief, though was partially disappointed. He hadn't grabbed the blond's bad arm. Hmph - while it was a good thing in the way that he wouldn't have to listen to any whining or wailing or other occasionally pleasant sounds like that, it was also a bad thing. If only because causing his fellow artist a significant amount of pain and-or discomfort was pretty much the only way he knew how to get one of these little moods to pass.

He had sort-of known Deidara had been joking, but still. Sasori grumbled incoherant and probably unpleasant things under his breath, momentarily closing his eyes and shaking his head.

And then the sculptor just had to say ithat/i. The puppeteer's eyes snapped open to glare at his partner, reaching both hands up to hastily untie the vile ponytail. Hm. Perhaps he could strangle the brat with the ribbon, or something. He grinned cruelly at that thought...

Then scowled when he brought up the 'what's in the bag?' thing iagain/i. Okay, well, that was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. "No! Brat..." The red-head tossed the evil ribbon to the side, one hand grabbed the bag, the other grabbing a peice of wood from the pile just off to the side. A peice of wood which he chucked - and hard as he could - at the blond. "Shut up."

Hpmh. How dare Sasori treat Deidara's beloved hair ribbon with such disrespect. Maybe it would've been a good idea to find some string instead of using his only ribbon on the puppeteer. But then again, he hadn't really anticipated it to be manhandled. Maybe not manhandled, but that was how the blond saw it. And maybe he should've just grabbed the bag and ran. Because its owner hadn't protected it and it didn't seem like the owner was particularly worried about it. He glared at the puppeteer again when he called him the "B" word again. 'I'm not a brat!' he announced, moving to pick up his poor and precious ribbon. Yeah, well, he would say that. Didn't seem like he was able to imagine how he was perceived by his partner. Crap! The blond quickly darted out the way of the wooden missile. It would've been okay if it was another pillow or something soft like that. But wood could kill people. Well…so could pillows, but whatever. Wood was harder and more damaging. He quickly ran out of the projectile's path and pouted. 'Why'd you do that? That coula really hurt, un!' he exclaimed angrily.

Not a brat? Not a brat? Ha! The blond was the very idefinition/i of the word. Infact, in the red-head's current opinion of the ibrat/i, he was the walking definition incarnate! "You are too a brat, Deidara," the puppeteer muttered in an eerily calm voice. "You're annoying, impolite, and you act like a little whiney child." ... Well, he idid/i. Sasori had more than enough proof to show the blond just how much of a brat he was, too!

The thrown wooden missile having not hit it's target disappointed the red-head. Oh well. There was more wood where that came from, and if need be, he'd beat the sculptor over the head with his own friggin' arm... Or go the easier root and just whack him upside the head normally, all limbs attatched.

The living puppet stared, eyes half-lidded, expression pretty much one that could be read as simply 'duh', at his partner's stupid exclaimation. "I did it to try to make you be quiet. Your voice is getting on my nerves," he answered as if it were obvious. He frowned slightly, looking over to where the thrown wood lay before turning his eyes back to the bratty blond. "And that would have been the point." After a short moment's pause, his brows rose slightly before he added one, simple word to what he had just said. "Brat."

If the puppet had been able to feel pain, the blond would've gone back over to him and slapped him repeatedly in the face. But this wasn't the case. Meaning he'd have to go slap Tobi or something. He needed to slap someone and make sure it hurt like fuck. Slapping Sasori would not help. He clenched his fist in fury. Oh, how could he go and let off some steam? He could go outside and scream and beat the crap out of a tree. Yeah…that sounded good. But first he needed to take care of something. Making his way over to the "nice" chart Deidara practically ripped the red marker off the wall to make a very long vertical line joining with the line that had previously been drawn. And again the "B" word was mentioned. The sculptor shot an extremely icy gaze at the human puppet and held out a finger, pointing at him accusingly. 'IF YOU CALL ME A BRAT AGAIN I'LL FUCKING THROW YOU OUT THE WINDOW AND KILL YOU!' he screamed before stomping out of the room and slamming the door. Maybe a little bit too hard seeing as the top half of it fell clean off the hinge. Now. Outside for a bit of anger relief and tree killing.

It was almost as fun to make his partner mad as it was to scare the fuck out of him.

The 'duh' expression melted away to a more apathetic, blank one while he watched Deidara go over to that evil little chart, grabbing the marker none too gently and adding a pretty red line to the one that was already there. A long red line. The living puppet refused to let himself worry about it, though. They'd gotten into worse arguments before, surely. The chart was ijust/i something new.

Though the uncaring front wavered for just a milisecond at the icy gaze and the rather loud threat. Apparently he pissed the sculptor off a heck of a lot. Was the word, 'brat', really ithat/i insulting? He continued to watch the blond as he stomped out of the room, eyes narrowing slightly when the door was slammed hard enough to damage it. He had a feeling that he was going to be the one that would have to fix that.

Tsk. While it iwas/i fun to make his partner mad, it also left him feeling a little... Eh, bad? Guilty? Something like that. Which was a conundrum, him supposedly being emotionless and all. It was more irritating than the blond who had just left, even.

Sasori sighed, almost expelling the agitation he held towards his partner with the breath, before peering down at the bag he gripped in one of his hands. Opening it and gently pulling out the plush, he stared at for a moment before shuffling over to the edge of his bed and standing. Now was as good a time as any, right? Maybe it would make that stupid feeling go away. He stepped over to the blond's bed, laying the plush on one of the pillows before making his way over to the closet. Time to go retreive that ring puppet.

Meanwhile, in Hidan and Kakuzu's room...

The doorknob wannabe of a Jashinist rose a brow when he heard the screamed threat and the distinctive slam of a door. He snorted. "Lover's tiff, much?"

The only reply he got from his partner was a loud, obnoxious snore.

Ah, fresh air. That seemed to be all the blond needed. Perhaps killing a tree was just slightly irrational. Plus, he'd probably get a right earful from Zetsu afterwards. He sat down on the grass recalling the things that had happened during this very eventful day. He'd had his arm "fixed" by Sasori, kissed him, been rejected by him, climbed up onto the roof for no particular reason, called his mother, had a nap, gone into the village, locked Tobi in the basement, had fun listening to him scream, been confronted about his feelings towards Sasori, been told he would have to be a fairy later and…then been repeatedly been called a brat. Maybe it was that fact that he didn't like being treated like a child by his partner. Even though…he was way older than him. Heck, the word wasn't even a swear word. It was just the principle, really. What really bugged him was how he let the puppet insult him and be cruel to him…yet he still had feelings for him. Was Deidara just attracted to really mean guys? Urgh, now he was even more confused. Okay. All better now. The blond got to his feet and went back inside. He wasn't planning on throwing the red head out of the window. Even though it was pretty obvious that he wouldn't.

He headed back upstairs, stalling a little. Now all he had to look forward to was playing dress up for Tobi. Even though it could turn out to be rather fun. Just as long as the masked twit didn't ask for any magic tricks, thinking they were real fairies.

While the blond was out, Sasori had quickly retreived a blank scroll from the closet and left the room, hurrying down the stairs to the ground floor.

Seeing that the coast was clear, he hurried down into the basement, only slowing his pace when the door was shut. And unlocked; he'd made sure of ithat/i. It definately wouldn't be smart to lock oneself in the basement...

He peered about the room, frowning at the bloodstains left behind by Hidan's disembodied head and the little red mousetracks everywhere. Oh, and the paint. Sure, he had been the one to get the paint everywhere... But he wasn't gunne clean it up. No time. His gaze settled on the box before he made his way over to it, kicking it off to reveal the ring girl puppet.

The red-head sighed at the state it was in. It's face had been ruined - Tobi's doing - but... The girl from the movie wasn't the epitome of ibeauty/i to begin with. Other than that, it was covered in paint, and he was pretty damn sure the dress hid more damage from the night before. He crouched, spreading the scroll infront of him before doing several handseals resulting in the non-living puppet disappearing and a symbol being etched onto the paper. Perfect. Now he just had to find some alone time to fix it up just a little... Maybe add a few more life-like, gruesome details.

Now he had to go back to the bedroom and wait for Zetsu. As well as put the scroll in a safe, hidden spot. And, last but not least, itry/i not to tease and provoke Deidara anymore until the whole fairy thing was over with. Two irritated 'fairies' and one annoying-ass idiot in one room together did not a good combination make.

The first thing that dawned on the blond upon re-entering the shared bedroom was that the puppeteer seemed to have gone walkabout. And there it was. The bag. The bag, which had been so carefully guarded, was now abandoned for Deidara to go find out what was actually in there. But nothing of any interest lay within. Just a few bed sheets. Why the hell had Sasori gotten so protective over a few white bed sheets? Feeling slightly foolish about getting so wound up about the contents of the bag, he turned back to his bed, where his eyes were then drawn to the plush toy that lay on one of his pillows. When did that get there? Cautiously, the sculptor picked it up to examine it further. It looked remarkably similar to the bird, which had previously flown into him on the way to the village. Deidara stood there, staring at the toy for a few moments. Then it clicked. Sasori had bought it for him. And that was what had been in the bag. But he still didn't understand why the human puppet hadn't just given it to him in the first place. It would've saved an argument. The blond sat on the bed, cuddling his new toy. He'd take care of it. And treat it like a plush toy should be treated.

After rolling the scroll back up, tying it closed, and leaving the basement more-or-less in the mess that he had found it in, the red head sighed. Did he ireally/i want to go back to the room? Then again, last he knew, Deidara was out... And if Zetsu didn't find either of them ithere/i he'd just go hunting for them. Didn't help that the cannibal was good at that. Plus, if they by chance pissed off said cannibal, he'd probably eat Deidara and use him as a toothpick.

Which... Wouldn't be all that fun.

Sasori paused momentarily at the stairs before starting up them at his usual pace. It took him no time at all to reach the top, at which point he headed straight for the shared room, entering and closing the door behind him before looking into the room, finally noticing that Deidara apparently wasn't still out. And said blond the plush. Good. So long as he didn't ask about it.

The puppet, thus ignoring his partner's presence, quietly made his was over towards the closet. He'd hide the scroll in there. Wasn't like anyone rooted through it often, save for him.

Zetsu re-entered the house after his little garden check-up. Everything was fine; the recent rain meant he didn't have to water them. Hm... Now, aside from the dresses... What was he forgetting...

Ah! Right. Hidan's body. He had it up in his room - Kakuzu had let him take it in order to get it out of the way. And since, after nibbling on one of the Jashinist's fingers, it had been established that said religious fanatic didn't taste very well... He'd just left it on the floor. Might as well give it back.

And so, the canniballistic plant started up for his room. Perhaps while he was there, he could also pick up the dresses.

Yes. Zetsu owned dresses. They used to belong to a few of his victims... But... Well. They didn't need them anymore. He iknew/i they'd come in handy some day...

Deidara had been quietly giving affection to the plush toy when his partner re-entered the room. He looked over at him and smiled. 'Did you get this for me, un?' he asked, pointing to the item in his hand Of course, he knew his danna had. He just wanted to hear the words seep from his mouth. Then he'd have a reason to go make his line on the chart go up again. A lot. Seeing as that was a very kind act. Though he made no move to ask if the plush had been the reason Sasori was guarding the bag so well. That would just show how untrustworthy he was. And probably result in him getting attacked by another hard piece of wood. The blond lay back on his bed, holding the plush bird out in front of him happily. He made it's fabricated wings flap a little with his one hand. ' Thanks. It was thoughtful of you, un,' he grinned. 'I think I'll call him...scorpling. After you. A scorpling's a baby scorpion. And you bought him for me, un.' Yeah, he was beginning to get a little attached to the damn thing. First he'd start claiming to be unable to sleep without it. Then he'd drag it around with him everywhere. Then he'd manage to break it in some way or another and never touch it again. The usual lifecycle of a favourite toy. But for now, the bird was Deidara's only and favourite toy and would receive all the love in the world.

The living puppet opened the closet before glancing back at his partner when the blond asked a question. Thankfully... It wasn't one of the ones he was hoping he wouldn't ask. Though he was hoping he wouldn't ask any, really. Hmph... Who else would get something for Deidara? Tobi? ... Well... Probably. But still. "Yes," he answered simply, before turning back to the closet, shoving the scroll on in between a jar of paralytic toxin and un unlabelled jar of... Actually... He didn't really know iwhat/i that crap was. He just knew it looked disgusting and that something in it was moving...

He'd investigate ithat/i later. The blond was speaking. "Hn..." Sasori closed the closet, turning back around so he could see the sculptor of whom was playing with the plush. He couldn't totally kill the small smile that produced, although he tried. Instead, he turned his head to look off to the oh-so interesting wall. Heh... Bought. He bit his lip to try stifling the snicker at the memory of how he got the plush... Yeah... Bought.

Though he couldn't help but think 'scorpling' was an odd choice for a name. Hell, just a short while ago, the other artist was pissed off at him. Heh... Who knew plush toys worked ithat well/i in some situations? That or that blond hadn't been as mad as he had seemed.

Whatever. The red-head moved towards his bed. Perhaps he could get that fairy puppet started before Zetsu came by with those horrid... Things... They were going to have to wear.

Meanwhile, the cannibal of a plant of a man entered his room, going directly towards the closet and stepping over the discarded body of the Jashinist. Hm... Hopefully he'd have a really revealing red dress and an innocent-seeming blue one.

Though that would seem a bit too angel-demonish. And he doubted he'd have those exact types...

Or... Maybe...

Zetsu pulled out two of about seven. One iwas/i blue, a nice cerulean shade; skirt down to the knees, frills, poofy sleeves... Though in places it was bloodstained. The other was an off-red - maroon, he figured; the skirt was rather short, and, erh... It was quite revealing. Bondage-y, even.

He snickered. "bGood... Now let's go./b" Then nodded. "iYes./i"

Swinging the dresses over his shoulder, he started back out of the room - but not before stopping down to grab the Jashinist's foot on the way, so he could drag it along with him.

Deidara beamed. Yay! Sasori had bought it him. This only caused the plushie to be…well…hugged to death. If it had been a real bird, it certainly would be dead by now. And what a painful death it would've been. Of course, the blond hadn't expected his partner to be wowed by his knowledge of scorpions. But he could've said a little bit more. It seemed that all memories of screaming at the puppet only about ten minutes ago had been shunned from his mind. Happily, he got up, clutching his new toy and ran over to his partner, hugging him in appreciation. 'Thank you, un!' he giggled. Yeah, he had already acknowledged the puppeteer's kind act, but it wouldn't hurt to repeat himself, would it? The sculptor then quickly moved back over to the "nice" chart. Seeing as this was…probably the nicest, most generous and most thoughful thing Sasori had ever done for him he'd get a very long vertical line upwards. Good. That made up for the little outburst from earlier. Something then occurred to him. There was no recording of his niceness. Okay, so maybe he hadn't been too nice…The blond took the blue marker off the wall and held it out to his partner. 'You need to give me a mark too, un,' he stated. Wow…he really seemed serious about the whole chart thing.

Sasori ihad/i gone back to ignoring his partner. He ihad/i been picking through the small pile of wood laying precariously on his bed, subconciously going through what peices would be good for which parts. Long peices, for example, would be good for the limbs. Short peices... Probably the torso and pelvis; that one blocky peice could be used for the head...

He ihadn't/i, however, noticed the fast-approaching foot-steps until it was too late and Deidara had hugged him, thanking him again... Albeit the hug was brief, it was enough; it made the puppeteer actually want to be able to ifeel/i again. Though that stupid thought was short, too, for said puppeteer quickly shoved it out of his mind, bowing his head and scowling seconds after the blond had let go and went back to that idiotic chart thing.

Stupid blond... Maybe he ishould/i ask Leader-sama to transfer one of them to a different room. If only to preserve what was left of his uncaring front. Okay... Yes. He'd admit it. He liked the sculptor. Although it was a itiny/i, little, itty-bitty speck of a liking. And he didn't want it to grow.

The red-head looked up, expression changing immediately from a scowl to a rather puzzled stare at his partner's statement. Before he noticed the marker of which was being held out to him. The marker of which he then proceeded to stare at as if it were something completely different... Like a pink-striped frog. What...?

Surely he was kidding. Though looking up from the marker to the sculptor's face lead the puppeteer to come to the conclusion that he wasn't. Eugh... "Deidara, it's your chart. I don't want anything more to do with it than I already have."

Zetsu was well on his way to the two artists' room, though on the way he stopped by the immortal duo's room. At which he stopped, letting go of Hidan's body's foot before knocking quietly on the door and moving along...

Inside the room, Hidan the doorknob, of course, heard the knock. Loud'n clear. "KAKUZU! GET UP AND ANSWER THE DOOR!"

... Again the only answer he recieved was a loud, obnoxious snore. Added to it this time, however, was a rustling of the bedsheets as the banker rolled over, muttering something incoherant.

"GODDAMNIT!"

... The canniballistic plant snickered at the loud mouth before reaching the two artists' room. He rose a brow at the state of the door before shrugging and knocking. Ah, well, didn't concern him. Or the other him.

Did Sasori even understand the whole concept of the chart? It was to see if they were getting along! If Deidara didn't have a mark on it he wouldn't be able to know if he wasn't being nice and thus, be nicer. So, Sasori had to be part of it. He sniggered a little at the way his partner was regarding the blue marker in his hand. It wasn't as if it was poisoned or something. Well...this specific marker wasn't poisonous. He had made sure of that when buying it...for various reasons. With that, the blond walked over to him and shoved the pen into the living puppet's hand and then pointed at the chart again. 'Please. For me, un?' he asked pleadingly. 'Otherwise the experiment won't work.' Yes…what seemed to be a joke was quickly turning into a full-blown experiment. And not even waiting for an answer, the blond went back over to his bed to carry on messing around with his new plushie, scorpling. Okay, so maybe calling a toy bird the name for a baby scorpion was a little stupid…but it seemed to make Deidara all the more attached to the thing. Then came the door. Damn. Fairy time already? Surely not. He hoped it wasn't Zetsu behind the door. Maybe it was Tobi. Yes! It was Tobi. Thinking nothing of it, he got up, his plushie in hand and went over to answer the door. Seeing as he had sent the puppeteer that last time it seemed only fair for the sculptor to do it now. Before turning the doorknob he examined it. Ah, good. It was still intact. With that, he turned it and BAM, the door fell off its hinges completely. Oops. The blond recalled slamming the door maybe a little bit too roughly after his little hissy fit about the "b" word. Before even acknowledging the cannibalistic plantman who stood in the doorway, he turned to look at his partner. 'Danna? Did I do this, un?' he asked, pointing to the door which had landed gracefully on the floor.


	12. Chapter 12

Source for inspiration? I have no clue. D Aand, the fluffiness... Starts... Soon... Ish... I think. xD

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Did Sasori even understand the whole concept of the chart? It was to see if they were getting along! If Deidara didn't have a mark on it he wouldn't be able to know if he wasn't being nice and thus, be nicer. So, Sasori had to be part of it. He sniggered a little at the way his partner was regarding the blue marker in his hand. It wasn't as if it was poisoned or something. Well...this specific marker wasn't poisonous. He had made sure of that when buying it...for various reasons. With that, the blond walked over to him and shoved the pen into the living puppet's hand and then pointed at the chart again. 'Please. For me, un?' he asked pleadingly. 'Otherwise the experiment won't work.' Yes…what seemed to be a joke was quickly turning into a full-blown experiment. And not even waiting for an answer, the blond went back over to his bed to carry on messing around with his new plushie, scorpling. Okay, so maybe calling a toy bird the name for a baby scorpion was a little stupid…but it seemed to make Deidara all the more attached to the thing. Then came the door. Damn. Fairy time already? Surely not. He hoped it wasn't Zetsu behind the door. Maybe it was Tobi. Yes! It was Tobi. Thinking nothing of it, he got up, his plushie in hand and went over to answer the door. Seeing as he had sent the puppeteer that last time it seemed only fair for the sculptor to do it now. Before turning the doorknob he examined it. Ah, good. It was still intact. With that, he turned it and BAM, the door fell off its hinges completely. Oops. The blond recalled slamming the door maybe a little bit too roughly after his little hissy fit about the "b" word. Before even acknowledging the cannibalistic plantman who stood in the doorway, he turned to look at his partner. 'Danna? Did I do this, un?' he asked, pointing to the door which had landed gracefully on the floor.

The red-head twitched just slightly, more than likely unnoticeably, at the little snigger he heard coming from the blond. Hmph. He had half a mind to grab the marker just to chuck it back at him. But, he didn't.

... And soon enough he found the vile little thing being shoved into his hands, anyway. He frowned, staring rather uncaringly at Deidara. For him? Why would hedo anything for the sculptor? ... And iwhat/i experiment? Oh, goddamnit. The puppet watched the blond go backover to his bed before turning slightly to face the damnable chart. Pfft... It was only a mark, right? What was so damn hard about that? Might as well do it so the blond didn't go off whining about it or anything.

He stepped over to the dumb little thing, uncapping the marker, about to just randomly make a line before he paused. Hm... Maybe he should actually put some thought into this? Now. Recently - was the blond being inaughty/i or inice/i? Well... There was that little tantrum he had a short while ago. But then, thinking about it, he ihad/i provoked the sculptor. Oh, geez... He was actually considering the damn thing...

Before he could actually think on it further, there was a knock at the door. Three guesses who ithat/i was... He looked over to see that his partner had got up to go get it.

Hm...

Sasori watched - then cringed, as, after Deidara was finished looking at whatever he was looking at, when he went to open the door - er... It fell. Well... He was inot/i fixing that. "No. It was the termites." The answer had been imeant/i to be sarcastic, although that wasn't exactly how it came out. It actually came out sounding sort-of serious. Oh well... With a shrug, he returned his attention to the chart and furrowed his brows in concentration.

Okay, so maybe he was thinking about it a little itoo/i hard, huh?

... Zetsu blinked his golden eyes owlishly when the door fell, looking vaguely clueless. The door only needed to be opened a little... Not ithat/i much... And termites? He'd have to remember to go get some insect spray before the rest of the house started falling down around them all.

Though, it was funny. He hadn't seen any signs of termites... Oh well. He frowned slightly when he was more-or-less ignored by either of the artsy duo. Hmph... How rude... If he didn't need those two to appease Tobi's fairy-seeing need he'd probably just eat them. And make it look like an accident or something.

In an attempt to gain someone's attention, the plantman coughed. Loudly.

Well that was good news. Sasori appeared to have finally given in to drawing a mark on the chart. And he seemed to be thinking about it too. More so than the blond had done anyway. He was hoping to get a upward line…even though he probably wouldn't get one. Ah…termites. Well that explained it. At least it hadn't been him who had caused damage to the door. If anyone intended on asking, he would blame the termites. And with that, Deidara moved the door out of the way of the plantman and proceeded to lean it against the wall. He'd have to get that fixed later on. After the fairy skit. Taking note of the two dressed which Zetsu was holding, the blond quickly decided which one he was going to wear. 'I'm having the blue one!' he announced. Sure, it was extremely girly, but there was no way he was going to wear something that made him look…somewhat like a common prostitute. Hmm...it didn't seem like the cannibal had brought along any wings, wands or tiaras. Then Deidara quickly realised that the human puppet might retaliate. 'Coz blue goes with my hair!' he added. Of course, he failed to point out the sluttiness of the red dress. He just wanted to see his partner's reaction when it came to the giving.

Meanwhile, Tobi, who was currently overcome with excitement was now writing a note to the tooth fairy saying "Even if it looks like I'm awake, I'm not really!" Boy, was he in for a surprise. Two cross-dressing, male tooth fairies coming to visit him? Although, the fact that the tooth fairy might not appear to those who's teeth had fallen out as a result of running into stairs. Nor would they appear to adults.

The puppet's thoughts were a mess, and he was trying to order them quickly so he could get the damn marking thing over with. Okay... Well, just recently was that whole bag fiasco and that thing with his hair. Down. But then again, after Deidara had gotten that plush, he had been... Okay... Up. Again, he was just about to make a mark before he heard the blond announce he was taking the blue one... Blue iwhat/i now?

Sasori looked back over to his partner and the walking talking plant, frowning. Oh, dress. Blue dress. That left him with the other one...

In order to get a better look at the one he had been left with, the red-head momentarily abandoned the dumb chart and stepped over to the two, eyes immediately snapping to the dresses. Yeah, okay, blue would go--- wait. Waitwaitwait. What the ihell/i was ithat/i?! The living puppet glared venemously at the red dress. Oh... Oh, ihow/i he wanted to argue against it! But it would probably be two against one. Or... Three against one, if you wanted to get technical.

Fuck.

Muttering a sleu of incoherant curses, the puppeteer swiftly made his way back over to the chart, finally making a mark - a short line down, before putting the marker back on the wall and getting the rolled-up red dress in the back of the head after Zetsu threw it at him. Damnit.

The cannibal snickered at his good aim, before holding the blue dress out for the blond to take. "bHere./b We'll go see if we can find any props... bI don't think we know anyone who owns any costume wings... Do we? .../b No... I don't think we do..." The plant man paused, looking thoughtfuly for a moment. Wings, wings... Ah. "I know what they can do. bHmm?/b They can henge the wings... bYes./b You two can henge the wings, right...?"

Deidara let out a –maybe a bit too loud- giggle. The puppeteer's expression was just priceless. If only he was wearing his scope. He could've taken a picture…and then look at it whenever said puppeteer was yelling at him. Just to give him a better perspective of him. Ooh…perhaps taking a picture of him with the dress on would be a good idea as well… The blond took the blue dress from the cannibalistic plantman and thanked him. Heh. Seemed like ol' puppet boy was stuck wearing that extremely skimpy looking dress. Heck, it might even suit him. Before examining his outfit further, the sculptor went over to the chest drawers in a mad hunt for his scope. Which he found under what looked like a decapitated hand. He could never pass up a chance to take embarrassing photos. Even though the thing was meant to be for long range battles. Hm…blood. Delightful. Deidara didn't complain though. His partner probably would've seen that as an opportunity to switch outfits. A risk he did not want to take. He then shuddered as he heard the discussion between both of Zetsu's personalities. No matter how many times the stone missing nin' witnessed it, he could never really get over the disturbance that occurred when the two personalities had conversations. The contrast in both pitch and voice was just plain scary.

A maybe-too-loud giggle that the puppeteer idid/i hear. Sasori frowned, momentarily glancing around for a moment before taking the marker back off the wall and turning around. What? It was the only thing he could find near-by that could be used to do what he intended to do. He ignored the walking-talking plant's odd little conversation and question, chucking the marker at Deidara in much the way he did with the wood before; as hard as he could.

Then he stooped down the snatch the vile, skimpy, slutty dress up off the floor, holding it out infront of him as if it were the most unclean thing he'd ever seen. It wasn't, though - but it was damn near close. He growled - if looks could kill, the dress would be withering in pain, even if it iwasn't/i alive. Hmph. Maybe he could go hide in Hiruko for an extended period of time and take up living in the closet.

... Then again, he sort-of brought this on himself, hadn't he? He had, afterall, agreed to the stupid fairy thing. Hm. iAfter/i it was over with, he'd just disappear inside of his favourite little toy for a while, maybe...

The red-head sighed irritably, making his way over to his bed and sitting down cross-legged, tossing the dress off to the left so that it was half-off, half-on the bed. Six days, right? Yes. In six days, he make them all ipay/i with a few years of their pitiful lives... His pissed-off look melted into a somewhat smug one as his thoughts drifted to the future. Oh, yes; he was going to take extra-special care to make sure everything went as planned.

All the while, Zetsu just... Stood there. "bI don't think they heard you./b But I asked it loud enough, didn't I...?" The cannibal looked slightly to his right, as if the dark half were trying to glance to the light half. "bTry again./b Fine... Well? ... You two can henge wings, right?"

The blond carefully lifted up his fringe and fixed the scope into place. There. Now all that was left to do was- DONK! A flying marker from Sasori's direction whacked him in the back of his head. 'Ow!' he cried, his bad arm flying to the hurt spot. Oops. Deidara winced slightly. Hm…the marker damage seemed to hurt a lot more than his arm did. Good news and bad news. Good news, his arm was getting better. Bad news…Sasori would get another downward line. Or was that good news? 'I did hear you, un!' the sculptor stated. 'And we can, can't we, Danna?' But the puppet did already have wings didn't he? Big, sharp, blade-like ones. Even though using them would result in the skimpy dress to look even skimpier. If that was even possible. 'Is Tobi in bed, un?' he asked, placing his lovely blue dress on his bed. He hoped he was. It would mean the whole skit would be done and dusted sooner. The dress itself looked a little bit too small. No doubt it was for a girl much younger than Deidara. Once again, he remained quiet about this fault. At least it wasn't as small as his partner's dress.

The puppeteer snickered quickly when he heard his partner's 'ow'. It was so damn satisfying to hit him with isomething/i - though it probably would've been better if he hadn't have missed with that chunk of wood, earlier... Heh, maybe it would have kept that argument from happening, too, by knocking him out! ... Oh well.

Sasori blinked slowly, glancing over at Deidara before shrugging and nodded. What was the original question again? ... Could they henge wings? "Yes." Wings. That reminded him of something that he felt rather stupid about forgetting. How... The ihell/i was he going to get that skanky little dress on over the blade-like wings on his back? There was no way, unless he took them off or something... Which he didn't want to do. They could be a bitch to put back on correctly, sometimes. Especially considering he didn't trust anyone else in putting peices of him back on other than... Well, himself, and considering they were in a place he couldn't easily isee/i...

At the second question, though it wasn't directed at him, the red-head listened in, anyway. He wanted to know the answer to it too, afterall. The whole fairy thing wouldn't just plain... iSuck/i as much if the idiot was in bed.

Zetsu smiled slightly. Good! They could henge the wings; he wouldn't have to go find any fake ones, which would raise less suspicion about just what the hell was going on! Which meant - hopefully - less onlookers. The cannibal cocked his head to the side when asked if Tobi was in bed, before shrugging. "We think he is... bYes./b Now... You two put those on... Then go play tooth-fairy for Tobi..." Almost as an afterthought, he added, "And don't do anything to hurt him," before turning to leave. More than likely, he was off to go find a good place to watch and not be seen.

Maybe Deidara could make a wand too. And then stab the twit with it, claiming he didn't deserve any money and was too old to believe in such fantasies. But no doubt that action would come back and slap him in the face via Zetsu. Oh, why did Tobi have such a scary shield? Why couldn't his shield be less menacing…like Hidan? Perhaps even bringing a pair of pliers for the skit would have an interesting result. He could actually play a much better role of tooth fairy that way. Wait…"Don't do anything to hurt him?" Damn. There goes that idea down the drain. The blond was quite prepared to help Sasori with the removal of the rather dangerous wings, but knowing him, he'd just say no. With good reason. Deidara was often a little bit too rough with things. Thus end up breaking said blade-like wings. But keeping them on would ruin the dress and would probably earn the puppet a little "talk" from Zetsu. 'I'll help you if you want, Danna,' the he offered sheepishly. After. The sculptor picked up his blue dress with the blood stain decorating it and made his way over to the cupboard to get changed in privacy. He then examined himself in the mirror. Well…it wasn't…too bad. It was lucky he still had his hair down. It sort of added to the femininity. The blond held his arms out and spun around slightly. 'What do you think?' he asked the puppeteer, blushing slightly.

The puppeteer was equally disappointed when the walking plant of a man tacked on the last bit before he left. He wanted to try scaring the hell out of the masked imbecile by pretending to be the Fairy of Death or something - which would mean he'd be able to ikeep/i his damn blade-wings on. But apparently, that was not to be.

Sasori stretched out the blade-wings slightly, looking back and regarding them with slight annoyance. Maybe, using a henge, he could just disguise them? But that still left the dress problem. Great...

He turned his eyes to Deidara, blinking owlishly at the offer of help. Ha, ha - ihell/i no! He wouldn't even trust the blond with any of his other puppets, let alone with anything dealing with him; or in this case, parts of him. Especially not sharp, easily breakable if not handled right parts! He didn't want to spend days fixing them when he could be working on something else. Like setting the 'Ring Finale' up, for example.

The red-head watched his partner go to put on that one damnable dress irritably before looking down to his own skanky little thing. He growled pretty much inaudibly, reached back with one hand to feel around the base of one of his blade-wings. Might as well get it over with...

He just about had that one wing off when he heard the blond ask what he thought. About... What? The puppet paused in what he was doing, turning his head to look. And then he proceeded to stare, eyes unusually wide.

Not that he would admit it ior/i say it out loud - but the sculptor looked... To put it simply, beautiful, in a dress, hair down, blushing slightly as he was. The puppeteer tore his gaze away, looking at a spot on the bed directly infront of him. He didn't comment for a moment, but eventually said, "You look... Nice..." Yes. 'Nice' was a good word for it. A second later, he managed to get one blade-wing off, placing it carefully on the bed beside him, opposite the dress.

Hm…Looked like Sasori had decided to take the wings off. He also may need a hand putting those blade-like wings back on after the performance. But judging by the silent reply he had received from his partner it didn't look like he would want his help. But if asked, he would come to his aid. Because that's what friends do and Deidara was determined to his friend. Even though…he would, most probably make a pretty shitty job of putting those weapons back onto the living puppet…and perhaps even break them. The blond read his expression and bit his lip slightly, letting the blush brighten slightly. 'Thanks, un,' he mumbled. He looked "nice"? He then proceeded to smooth the dress down a little on his flat chest. Ah…problem. Weren't fairies supposed to be female? Sure, in the dress and with his hair down he looked pretty feminine…but he'd have to refrain from talking too much. That might disturb Tobi a little. A tooth fairy with a male voice? But looked like a girl? Ew. Also…breasts…hm…The sculptor stood in front of the mirror for a second or two before coming up with the idea of henging them. But then he'd need a bra or something. An item of clothing he doubted anyone in the building would have. Perhaps blue did…but no one knew what gender that person was anyway. Okay…he'd sort out that problem after. He did a few hand signs, causing much less pain than he had anticipated and POOF! Two blue wings appeared on his back. They weren't rainbow coloured…but they were wings. And they went with his lovely blood stained dress. Now he'd just have to wait for Sasori and maybe asked about the breast dilemma.

"Hn." The puppet kept his eyes to the bed as he started working on getting the second blade-wing off. Seeing as he had practice with the first one, he got the second one off a mite bit quicker, placing it down gently beside the other. He hesitated for a moment, left eye twitching irritably. Now that the wings were off, he had to put on the dress.

Damnit.

Grudgingly, he plucked the dress back up from the bed, holding it out as if it were infected with plague. But since he was a puppet and couldn't catch diseases - let's rephrase that; he was holding it out as if it were a lit torch threatening to set him aflame. He sighed, finally standing and - not really icaring/i if Deidara saw - just started changing where he stood. Hey. They were both guys, right? It wasn't like either of them had anything to hide. And it didn't take Sasori ithat/i long to change into the vile, skanky thing, anyway.

And when he did, he might as well have just been naked. It iwas/i a good fit... Sort-of. Though it didn't really cover much. And the little round container on his chest containing his heart was causing a bit of trouble. It made him look like he had one square boob. That, thankfully, could be fixed with a henge.

He peered over at his partner, slightly raising a brow at the wings before making a few handsigns in order to make his own... And fix some parts of his appearance. Like his joints, for instance. And of course, wings.

iPoof!/i

No more visible joints, the little container wasn't visible, and he now had wings. Off-red butterfly-like wings, with little black veins going throughout, concentrated mostly around the base. What? He felt like being fancy. And he sort-of wanted to show off.

Of course, the boob problem didn't occur to him. He looked back over to the overly girly blond, frowning slightly. "Ready to go...?"

Deidara let his attention then wander over to his dressing partner. No. He would not be a pervert. Sasori didn't like him in that way. And he never would. He was unable to. So lets just leave him as a fantasy. Yes…a fantasy. Nothing more than a fantasy. A fantasy which now looked…well…quite slutty. The blond tried to hold back a snicker. 'It suits you, un,' he stated, maybe a little bit…too firmly. He was trying so hard not to show his amusement. Of course…his last statement was a lie. It did not suit him. And the sculptor reckoned the puppeteer also thought so. But…if he said something like that, no doubt he'd pay in some way or another. He then proceeded to continue thinking about the boob problem whilst staring at his reflection. What could he use? Tissue? But that would make him look deformed and a bit stupid. The only way he wouldn't look deformed would be if he had a bra. But he wouldn't ask- Oh. Deidara looked down slightly, his blush brightening. Now he felt more embarrassed than he did initially. Of course he wasn't ready to go. He looked over at his partner, his lip quivering slightly and placed his hands on his chest. 'I'm…FLAT,' he wailed, moving his hands to his face, hiding his ever deepening blush. Now he felt even more stupid. 'How am I meant to look like a fairy if I'm flat, un?'

The red-headed puppeteer was silent for a moment before he glared venemously at the blond, crossed his arms and looked away. It isuited/i him? iHow/i did this... Skanky, slutty thing isuit/i him? "Shut up, brat. I'm not the one that looks like a girl even without a dress," he muttered, more-or-less just under his breath. Yep, it was the return of the 'b'-word. Though he sort-of hoped he said it too low to be heard.

Sasori waited for an answer to his question while praying to Kami-sama that there wouldn't be anyone out in the halls when they went to Tobi's room and back. That would be... Indignifying and embarassing... Highly so.

He looked back to Deidara at the wailed words, glare toned down and an eyebrow raised. Of course he was fla---... Oh. Oh, fuck.

"We could just be flat-chested fairies." The puppeteer didn't quite like the notion of faking breasts. One, he didn't quite know how to go about it - it wasn't like he ineeded/i to before. Two... It would just makes things that much worse if someone saw them. "Or iyou/i could henge breasts." 'Cause he definately was inot/i doing anything of the sort.

He paused for a moment before making his way over to his little claimed corner of the room, rummaging around for a moment before picking out two similar-sized spheres of wood. "Or..." He turned slightly to face the sculptor, holding them up. "These?" Nope, the need for bras didn't occur to the puppet, either. In this regard, he almost acted the age he looked.

If Deidara hadn't been wearing a dress and well…looking as undangerous as a sponge cake he would've gone over to the puppet and slapped him, not even giving a damn whether it hurt or not. What cheek. He'd probably repay the debt once he was out of the…not so wretched outfit. He actually quite liked it. He turned his nose up at the puppet. 'Shut up,' he snorted. 'The fangirls love it, un.' And he left that at that. Flat chested fairies seemed to be growing into the blond's only option. Unless Sasori didn't come up with any other solutions to solve the problem. Wait…henge the breasts? No way! He shook his head, his blush beginning to reappear. 'I'd need a bra or summit, un,' he pointed out. And just to make his statement clear he added 'And I don't really think anyone here would have one either, un.' Except maybe Sir. Leader. But he kept that silent. Word spread quickly. The sculptor watched as the puppet toddled over to pick up…what the hell were they? The blue eyes widened as the blush deepened. 'NO!' he cried. 'That's just plain…twisted, un.' No way was he wearing wooden boobs of all things. He wasn't being very cooperative, was he? Oh, well. Flat chested fairies it was then. He just prayed Tobi wouldn't insist on turning the light on or something.

... Fan-girls? The fan-girls could rot for all Sasori cared... Wait, no. Some of them could actually make good puppets. Maybe he could use Deidara as bait? Lure them in using his overly pretty partner and ibam/i - he'd have more bodies for his human puppet collection.

... Sasori shook his head to rid himself of the ever-so-creepy thoughts, frowning at the mention of needing a bra. Well, when it came to ithat/i, the blond was fucked. Then again, Zetsu idid/i own dresses, so he could very well own a bra or two - but who the hell knew where the cannibal was inow/i? "Hn." Picky, picky sculptor...

iToo/i picky. He rose a brow at his partner's deepening blush, then frowned slightly. How would using wooden spheres be... Twisted? It would be less awkward than using fruit or something. And what else was there? ... Ah! Yes. How could he had forgotten ithat/i... "Fine. Why don't you use your clay, then?" ... Or he could get pay-back for the little hair episode and iforce/i the two balls down the blond's shirt. Either way suited him.

Or the picky brat could stick with being flat-chested. Really, the puppeteer didn't care. He'd already made up his mind; he was staying flat, and that was ithat/i. He'd seen his fair share of the female kind, and some of ithem/i didn't even seem to have breasts. Tossing one of the spheres up and catching it, he turned back around and tossed them back down randomly into his little workstation.

Those poor fangirls. They'd end up being turned into puppets after being seduced by Deidara. In effect…they'd lose quite a few fangirls in Sasori's need for more puppets. It also hadn't really crossed the blond's mind that Zetsu might have some bras. But it was settled. If he didn't get one, he'd just go flat chested. Like an anorexic girl. And living off takeaways had made him a lot less than anorexic. Though thanks to the missions he wasn't quite overweight. Clay? What was- Well…okay. Clay was sticky and could just be stuck on the skin. And it could also be moulded into any size. So, he could have whatever size breasts he wanted. But it would feel weird. Heck, having breasts full stop would be weird. Tough clay sounded a lot more reasonable then those two wooden…things Deidara came to his answer. 'No,' he said firmly. Flat chested it was then. He folded his arms to cover his flatness and went to the door, slowly opening it and peering out to see if anyone was lurking about in the corridor. Nope. The blond looked back over to the slutty puppet and nodded. 'Coast's clear, un.' He waited. No way was he venturing out of the room alone. They could both look stupid together.

Fussy, fussy brat! No to the wooden 'breasts', then no to the clay idea. Deidara apparently didn't want boobs as bad as he had seemed to have wanted them. Sasori shrugged. That was well and fine with him, too... Less awkward. And there would've been the risk of one of the 'breasts' falling out.

Which would have been... Amusing, though it probably would have ruined their chances of fooling the fool into thinking they were really fairies. And female. But then, it was iTobi/i they were going to be fairying for.

Tooth-fairying. Speaking of which... The skanky-looking puppet-boy frowned. Who was going to be picking up the disgusting tooth? Eh... He'd force the blond to do it when the time came... Oh, wait a minute. They were forgetting something, though he couldn't remember what...

He watched his partner move to the door and open it to peer out. He nodded back at the sculptor's words, starting over before stopping more-or-less in the middle of the room. "Wait, Deidara - do you have the coin?" That was what they were possibly forgetting, he remembered now. Tooth for coin.

Whoever thought up the concept of the toothfairy should be tortured and killed in a slow and painful fashion, the puppeteer thought.

The blond was about to venture out of the room when his partner mentioned the coin thing. Coin? Why the hell would he need a coin? 'Why would…' he paused, thinking about it, his eyes looking up at the ceiling. Coin? It had been quite a few years since he had been visited by the "tooth fairy," so the trade of teeth for money hadn't really been his first thought. At first he wondered if he was meant to use it as a weapon and flick it at Tobi. Which would be a little bit odd. 'Oh, yeah!' he giggled, when he suddenly realised what the puppet had meant. Deidara wandered over to his bed to retrieve his wallet his arms still across his chest, somewhat feeling a little bit sensitive about his flatness now. He felt slightly dirty giving money to the person he loathed the most, but if this was going to work, he'd have to. Not feeling too generous, he took out 100 ryo and shoved it in his…What? No pockets? He pouted and held onto the money. 'Okay, I've got it, un,' he announced, grabbing Sasori's hand and dragging him out of the room.

The puppeteer simply watched his partner think. Surely he couldn't be ithat/i blond... Ah, then again, like Tobi was Tobi, this was Deidara. Of icourse/i he could be that blond.

Sasori rolled his eyes when what he was getting at seemed to finally click in the sculptor's brain. He watched the brat - somewhat curiously, seeing as how the blond still had his arms crossed over his chest - go to get the coin in question. The puppet smirked slightly... Hmm. If he wanted breasts that badly... Maybe he could get him an appointment to get a pair surgically placed on. Just for the helluvit.

The red-head nodded when the blond announced he got the money - and had been prepared to follow him out. Though he hadn't been expecting the brat to idrag/i him out like he did. It didn't settle well with the puppeteer, of course, but whatever - he'd be able to get revenge in the form of embarassment soon enough. Even if it would be the same for him.

... He'd just make sure it would be worse for his partner. Heh... He already had a few evil little ideas...

Deidara had already made a mental note of who was going to get the tooth. Himself. To balance out the fact that Sasori had second choice when it came to choosing the outfits. In effect, getting what he was given. A red rag. Plus, it would save an argument and lessen the chance of the idiotic Uchiha figuring out who the fairy impostors actually were.

Tobi was now tucked up in bed with his oh, so believable note lying next to his head, just where the tooth fairy would find it. Of course, trying to stay awake had just tired him out and he was now wavering between asleep and dozing off.

Quietly, the blond let go of the puppeteer, and opened the door to Tobi's room. God, it stank. Was there a dead animal that had been living in there for the last year or something? Using the hand he had previously used to open the door, he covered his nose, now beginning to regret the decision of taking the tooth. Bah, just get it over with. Quickly. He didn't want to end up using a fake female voice.

Sasori had planned quite a few little disasters he could iaccidentally/i cause to happen to Deidara during their little fairy venture by the time they reached the damnable room. Although most of them needed that masked idiot within the room to be awake... And once in particular required both of them to be near the bed.

He watched as the sculptor opened the door to the idiot's room then cover his nose soon after. Ha! Another plus to being a puppet; he couldn't smell anything, especially not noxious stenches like what must be wafting out of that room right then. If he wanted to be nice, he'd offer to go in and leave the blond outside... But... Nah. He wasn't 'feeling' nice at the moment. Though he would be following his partner-in-fairying into the room.

His plan was a good one - in his opinion, though it was simple, too. His intentions were to iaccidentally/i knock his fellow fairy into the bed with the masked fool... He just hoped that if he succeeded, he didn't get pulled down along for the unpleasant fall.

Cautiously, whilst trying not to tread on any of the broadcast belongings which were decorating the floor the blond made his merry way into the room. What fun tooth fairies must have entering bedrooms without being detected. Oh, yeah. Tooth fairies are tiny, so their presence is pretty much ignored. Hm…maybe another thing to be added to the suggestion box should be room inspections. That way, Tobi would have to keep his room tidy. And smelling nice at least. Deidara had managed to succeed in getting over to Tobi's bed without disturbing him from his slumber. Blue eyes were then drawn to the note, which he picked up to examine in the darkness. Heh. Awake, eh? He then passed it to Sasori to read and laugh at the idiocy of the note. Slowly, the sculptor pushed his hand under the Uchiha's pillow and lifted his head up slightly from underneath. Ah…there is was. Lying snugly on the sheets was the tooth. Delightful. He placed the money down and seized the tooth in exchange before quickly letting the dope's head drop. Done.

Of course, the puppeteer followed the blond in, keeping his eyes to the ground so that he could follow in his partner's foot-steps and thusly also avoid whatever the hell was on the floor. Geez... And he thought Deidara was messy sometimes! iThis/i took the proverbial cake, and threw it out a window, too.

Sasori wound up stopping just one step away from the blue-fairy-boy, waiting for juuust the right moment to put his little plan into motion. He rose a brow when he was passed a note, but read it nonetheless as the sculptor did his tooth-fairying thing. The red-head smirkedat what was on it before moving to place it back where he ithought/i the blond had gotten it from.

Either way, where he itried/i to place just 'accidentally' lead him to gently bump into his fellow fairy. Hmm... He peered over, just to check and see if everything was done and over with - which was positive. It was. Or at least... iWas/i.

The devious puppet of a man leaned to try placing the note further away, resulting in him pushing the blond a little harder forward, towards the bed. Now, luck came into play with two things... Balance and the other thing; being or not being dragged down if balance happened to fail.

Now all that was left to do was to escape from the room without Tobi waking up. Then it would be mission accomplished with dignity and reputation still intact. And then came Sasori's knock. Bump. Luckily, thanks to a quick reflex Deidara was able to ram his hands onto the bed and keep himself from falling on top of the sleeping Uchiha. He bit his lip. Hard. And scrunched up his eyes, preventing the tears from escaping. He was putting far too much pressure on his still healing arm. Plus, the damn tooth was digging into that same hand. And it hurt like fuck. He slowly turned to look at his partner and mouthed "Help." The only way he was going to be able to get up without the puppet's help would be by pushing down against the bed and then push himself up. But even then, he'd have to regain his balance quickly and it might even damage his arm more. And he was far too close to Tobi for his liking. The pain in his arm was rising and blood was quickly dripping from his now pierced lips. He daren't move his tongue to lick away the red liquid in case a whimper of anguish were to slip from his mouth.

Aww, the plan didn't go over so smoothely afterall... Sasori watched as Deidara saved himself the misfourtune of actually falling ontop of the dumbass Uchiha. Hmm. Now, how was he going to go about ithis/i? He icould/i try to help the blond out of his little situation. Or he could just finish what he had intended to do...

He stared impassively back when his partner turned slowly to mouth that one word, tilting his head just slightly to one side as if considering ihow/i. Though, truthfully, he was considering iif/i he should help the poor sculptor. He did look like he was in a 'bit' of pain...

Damnit! There went that little inner-voice again. It was in no flowery language blatantly saying he should ihelp/i his fellow fairy, despite how amusing it would be for him to fall ontop of the sleeping idiot... With a muted sigh, the puppeteer took naught but a second to figure out the 'how'. Chakra strings would be the easiest way.

So chakra strings it was. The red-head lifted a hand, faint blue strings attatching themselves to his partner's shoulders. His fingers twitched just slightly, the strings tugging at the sculptor in order to pull him back away from the bed and towards the living puppet.

Deidara was beginning to feel his bad arm fail him. It felt like if he stayed in that position for any longer the whole arm would snap. Of course it wouldn't, but that's what it felt like anyway. And he was beginning to grow impatient. Was Sasori even planning on helping him? Then he felt the light tug of the chakra strings on his shoulder. Yes! Yes he was! The blond sighed with relief as he was able to push himself up with much more ease. He stood up properly and picked up the tooth from the duvet where it had been left. 'Thank you, un,' he whispered to his partner before making the epic journey back through the pigsty that was Tobi's room. The sculptor made a mental note as he gracefully avoided every one of the idiot's appurtenances. Next time either one of the two artists decided to play a sick practical joke on him they would give him a death threat beforehand if he were to even think about telling the cannibalistic plantman what they had done to him. Tobi just better be damn grateful for the money. Once by the door, Deidara slowly opened it as a sudden burst of light would no doubt distress the Uchiha's dreams. Instead of moving his arms to once again cover his flatness, he cradled his damaged arm tenderly. What if it was dislocated again?

The puppeteer waited until the blond was standing before cancelling the chakra strings. That small, annoying, irrtating little voice was still present, berating him for causing the little incident in the first place. Oh, how the red-head wished he could just reach into the recesses of his mind and torture that damnable voice to death...

He only grunted quietly at the whispered thanks, watching Deidara pick his way back to the door before once again following in said sculptor's foot-steps. Again, it was much easier than picking out his own path. Plus if there was anything to be stepped in, his partner would let him know in groans of disgust or something.

Thankfully the trip back to the door was made with little-to-no mishaps. Sasori had ifinally/i succeeded in thwarting that annoying voice, only to have it make a comeback when he noticed that his fellow fairy was cradling his injured arm. Saying he should apologize and all that, since that little occurance was deliberately caused by him.

No friggin' way. But inquiry... He'd do that. "Are you all right, Deidara?," he asked, voice barely audible. Though the answer was sort-of obvious... No harm in asking, right?

Barely audible, but Deidara heard his partner's query and shook his head in response. He was going to answer with a sarcastic "Of course," but then concluded not to. Although it was a stupid question. He had blood dripping down his chin and his arm had taken up a bright pink tinge. But Sasori was concerned. Or seemed it through the blond's eyes. 'It hurts again, un.' Gah, if they stayed standing there for any longer there would be more of a chance of someone discovering the two artists in their fairy forms. 'C'mon, Danna.' He linked his arm with the puppet in order to cradle his poor throbbing arm and drag the puppeteer back to their bedroom. And it was also an excuse to get closer to him as well, but no doubt this would be detected.

'Hurts again'. Haa, that much was obvious just by looking at the blond... Speaking of, Sasori allowed himself the ghost of a frown when he ifinally/i noticed the line of blood dripping down Deidara's chin. For an emotionless puppet, he couldn't help but feel a ilittle/i guilty about it. And he could tell already that that goddamned 'feeling' wouldn't be going away any time soon unless he did something to right his oh-so 'accidental' wrong. Er... Or right it as much as it icould/i be righted, though technically it iwas/i already righted...

Well, that train of thought certainly lead to nowheresville quickly.

The puppet 'hmm'ed quietly when the sculptor linked arms with him - upon further investigation he saw that it was so the blond could then cradle his injured, pink-tinged arm at the same time. But... The red-head did indeed detect the 'other' reason. Seeing as how he could very well walk on his own and didn't need to be dragged along... Ah. Whatever. He found he didn't mind the closeness as much as he thought he probably should have.

Without thinking, or at least that's the excuse he'd use in his own mind, the puppet of a man reached up with the hand belonging to the non-linked-arm in order to wipe the dripping line of blood away.

Deidara was about to begin his puppet dragging back down to their room. Then he'd attend to his arm. Unless Itachi had claimed the bathroom for his night-time session, then he'd have to wait a bit and perhaps force Sasori to play doctor again. Wait…no…not again. The first time had caused sheer agony and he didn't particularly want that again. Feh, if that weasel had hijacked the bathroom, he'd just have to get ready for bed. Slowly. Huh? The sculptor's head twitched to the side as he saw his partner's hand rise. Damn. Maybe linking arms with him had been a bad idea and he was going to get rejected again. Damn damn damn. But the hand didn't move to his own arm in order to push him away. It moved to his bloodstained chin. 'Danna?' he asked, cerulean eyes wide. Though he didn't curse himself for speaking too loud in the close presence of Tobi. He was far too engrossed in wondering what Sasori was planning on doing. Was he going to slap him? The slap he had just been begging for all day? Misgiving, the eyes closed slowly. Even when wearing a dress, the emotionless puppet looked murderous.

The red-head watched his partner's face, amusement highly guarded behind the usual uncaring stare. He didn't answer the one-worded inquiry with anything; hell, ihe/i didn't even know what he was doing. That little voice had more influence than he had thought, that little scrap of human-him - it was the first time he actually felt like the friggin' puppet he iwas/i. And it was actually starting to disturb him.

Sasori watched Deidara's blue eyes slowly close, smirking when he was sure the blond couldn't see it. Ha... Did he think that he was going to hurt him? As much as he wanted to sometimes, that wasn't the case. At that moment, anyway.

He traced the red line upwards with one bent finger, deceptively gentle witht he gesture before his mind caught up with his actions. At which time he snatched his hand back, and probably would've been blushing if he had the means to. Instead, he sent a quick glance in Tobi's general direction. "We should leave. Now," he mumbled, letting his eyelids droop in a humourless fashion.

He left out a slight whimper as Sasori's finger touched his chin and began to move upwards. Then he reached the torn flesh where the blood was leaking from and Deidara flinched. Just the feel of his partner's touch made him shiver, though he daren't open his eyes. He so wanted to lift his hand up to join the wooden one, but that would be hard. His good arm was still linked with the puppet's and lifting his useless limp would cause even more pain. Instead, he blushed. A lot. And then it was over. The blond opened his eyes and looked at the floor slightly. 'Un…' he mumbled in reply, unlinking the prosthetic arm and walking on ahead. His face was burning. And letting him see that would only increase it. Once outside the bedroom he stared at the door, wondering why Sasori had done that. Devotion? Kindness? Concern? He then shook his head. "No. He doesn't feel for you. Stop kidding yourself, idiot," the inner Deidara snapped. Whatever it was, he lifted his hand to his chin. Hm…the bleeding had stopped.That was quick.

The puppet of a puppeteer only looked back to his partner once Deidara unlinked their arms and walk on ahead. He had caught the blush before he looked off over in the general direction of the masked idiot. While it confused him slightly, it sent his 'inner-him' into a fit of giggles. Which he immediately blocked out.

Sasori gave a bit of a shrug before falling into step a few feet behind the blond. Whatever. Why should he let the sculptor confuse him, if even unintentionally? ... Hm. Perhaps he should find one of those 'guide to behaviour and emotion' books or something. He wasn't clueless, no, but a book could serve to be useful. For both understanding the blond iand/i 'himself'.

The red-head frowned when he noticed his partner was just... Staring at the door to their bedroom. He observed the scene for a moment, coming to a stop just inches behind. From his vantage point, he could see that the blond had bent an arm, possibly raising the hand up to his face or something. Hm. The hell was he doing? "... Earth to Brat." And he meant the B-word in the nicest way possible. iReally/i. "I doubt you can open doors with your mind, no matter how much you stare at them."

The hand fell from the blond's face and he gritted his teeth. He should really make a list of how many times he had been called "Brat" that day. Even though the "b" word had been said in the "nicest way possible" it was all the same to Deidara. It was just a way of Sasori showing how little respect he had for him. He moved to open the door and go in the room, leaving it open for his partner. He then seized Scorpling the plush bird and hugged it tightly with his one arm. How long had he been out the room? Five? Ten minutes? And he was acting like he hadn't seen the poor strangled thing in years. The sculptor was about to go to the bathroom when he had the sudden urge to ask the puppet about the little sign of affection he had given him outside Tobi's bedroom. 'Danna?' he asked quietly, averting his gaze slightly. 'You…you know before, un? Why did you do that?' The blue eyes then moved to the plush in his arm. It was so much easier to look at that rather than the puppeteer himself…even though, like the puppet…it gave little expression.

Entering the room moments after his partner and closing the door behind himself, Sasori immediately made his way over to his bed and picked up his discarded inormal/i clothes. Placing them somewhat neatly on the bed, he quickly cancelled the vile henge and slipped out of the horrid red atrocity he had been stuck wearing before tossing it haphazardly away. And then quickly getting dressed again. Or at least halfly so, yanking on a pair of black trousers before sitting cross-legged on his bed in order to face Deidara.

He watched the blond pretty much hug the poor, non-living thing to death until, seconds later, that one, dreadded question was asked. Why did he do... iThat/i which he did just a while before? The puppet gave the sculptor a lengthy, half-lidded stare while trying to think of an answer. Anything, really. But... The little voice had betrayed him; it had gone oddly quiet, and he was left to think up an answer on his own.

Fat chance of that happening. "Does it matter, Deidara?" He tried, consealing a the slight hint of uncertainty that was trying to force it's way into his voice with annoyance. He noticed the blond had moved his eyes to the plush and away from him - which iwas/i slightly irritating, though he wasn't going to bring it up.

The blond averted his gaze as the puppet changed. It was only polite. And it would stop yet another unwanted blush appearing. That reminded him that he should also change soon enough. But not yet. He was still wondering about things. Which took a lot longer for Deidara than most people. Then again…it would be better to get changed before venturing to the bathroom. If Itachi was in there then he'd have to see him in Zetsu's lovely blue dress and witness the flatness. The damned masculine flatness. The blue eyes lifted as he received an answer and he blinked a couple of times. If it didn't matter then the sculptor wouldn't have asked in the first place, would he? 'Yes. It does,' he said firmly before repeating 'Why did you do that, un?' He was beginning to get a little agitated by Sasori trying to avoid answering that question.

As the red-head awaited a reply to his own little inquiry, he sent a withering glance over at his two blade-wings, of which still lay where he had put them before putting that damnable dress on. Then he reached over, picking one of the up and began the painstakingly irritating task of trying to put it back on again.

Hey, he did it before. Several times. Shouldn't be itoo/i difficult to put them back... Haa.

Trying to avoid answering was a bit of an understatement, almost. He was outright evading it. Then again... Avoiding and evading were, once one got down to it, pretty much the same damn thing. Instead of answering the blond's question, Sasori looked over at Deidara, pausing in his wing re-attachment before frowning, then answered with his own little question. "Will you need any help getting out of that dress?"

... He meant it in the most innocent way possible. Given that the sculptor's wrist was injured and all that... Plus, he needed to get his partner off of ithat/i topic isomehow/i. What better way...?

He wasn't going to answer was he? Deidara's eyes narrowed as he watched his partner reached over for one of his blade-like wings. Hn…he was just ignoring him. How rude. Well, fine. If Sasori was going to be like that then the blond would just have to ask him repeatedly until he received a valid answer and not just "does it matter?" The fact that he was purposely avoiding having to come up with an answer was making the sculptor suspect the puppet more and more. What was he hiding? And answering a question with a question was just plain annoying. He was about to point this out when he thought about it. At first, he blushed. What sort of question was that? Of course he could. As a silent reply, he wandered over to the cupboard and started to get changed and out of the blue frilly dress. And it was proving to the quite difficult. Deidara had managed to get his good arm out and was unable to do so for his damaged one. 'Danna?' he called, feeling slightly embarrassed. 'I'm stuck, un.'

iClick/i. Wing one was successfully attached... Or so the puppet hoped. It was iin/i, at any rate, and wasn't falling back off. That had to count for something.

Hmph. Sasori stretched the blade-wing out, making sure it iwas/i in correctly. He was going to have to come up with a way to get Deidara off of ithat/i topic permanently - the blond could be persistant. And he was probably not going to let the damn thing rest until he got an actual answer.

Not just a question to a question. He watched his partner wander over to the cupboard. Why his partner changed in that thing, he didn't quite understand - it wasn't like he hadn't seen nude or semi-nude people before... Afterall, to make human puppets, he had to preserve and change some limbs to wood. That usually required stripping the victim in question - whether they be male or female.

But... Whatever. His attention returned to the blond - or at least the cupboard - when the one within it called out to him. Stuck? The puppeteer hid a smirk, about to stand and make his way over before something occured to him. Why not get the sculptor to come out of that excuse of a change-room? "Come over here, then, Deidara."

Damn…he'd forgotten to take a picture of Sasori in that slutty dress. And that would probably be the only chance he could take a picture of him dressed as a girl to threaten to humiliate him with. Unless he forced him back into the thing. Nah, that'd never work… He peeped his head around the side of the cupboard from where he had been attempting to get changed when he heard the puppet's demand of "come over here, then." He didn't feel right changing in front of his partner and letting him rid him of the dress just seemed unheard of. Sure, they were both guys, but it still made the blond feel a little uncomfortable. And of course he had nothing to hide, yet he felt the need to. Sheepishly, he made his way over to his partner. Oh! He'd managed to put the blade wing on himself. Deidara felt a little disappointed about that. He had been inwardly hoping the puppet wouldn't've been able to succeed in refitting it. He stood in front of him, looking away slightly. He was already predicting that this might cause a lot of pain to his poor arm. 'If I say stop…you have to stop, un,' he warned before holding his good arm out to the side.

The puppeteer rose a brow when Deidara peeped out from the cupboard. Then he turned around, hands in his lap, waiting for the blond to come over so he could help with the dress.

Sasori looked up at the blond for a moment when he'd finally made his way over. Already the little gears in the red-head's mind were turning, trying to figure out the easiest way to get the damnable thing off of his partner. It shouldn't be itoo/i difficult... He had a lot of practice at this sort of thing, anyway. He frowned slightly, however, at the sculptor's words. If he said stop... He most likely iwasn't/i going to. His fellow artist would just have to suck it up and take it like the man he didn't look like.

... Or, find a way out of the dress on his own.

The red-head stood, not making any sort of acknowledgement to what the blond had said before reaching down, grasping his partner's injured arm a few centimeters above the wrist and 'gently' pulling it upwards over his head. He reached over to grab the blond's other wrist in order to do the same thing.

Then he stepped to one side. He wasn't tall enough to to the next step of getting the dress off without a little bit of cooperation. "Hn... Turn this way and bend over a little."

The blond winced as his bad arm was taking and help above his head. Gently? Ha! More like forcibly. But he kept quiet. Complaining would probably result in him being left in the lovely bloodstained dress and having to get out on his own way. Most likely chewing through the fabric using his palmouths. With both his arms above his head, Deidara was beginning to wonder if the puppeteer was going to hang him from the ceiling or something crazy like that. How was he planning on getting the dress off anyway? Slicing it with his blade-wings? Pulling it over his head? Feh, like the puppet was even capable of doing that. He was too- Shut up. Obediently, the blond turned around to face Sasori and bent down a little. Well, that sorted out the height problem. But it was also now proving to be difficult holding his arms up and bending over. "Hurry up, un," he growled inwardly.

Sasori had to force down a chuckle at the odd position the blond was currently in. He made a mental note to, later, along with the fairy puppet, to make a miniature one of Deidara... If only so he could put it in odd positions when he was bored as hell with nothing else to do. Plus, it would also be a nice tool to use in creeping the fuck out of his blond little companion.

A creepy, contemplative grin etched itself onto the puppeteer's face, though it was gone as soon as it came when the sculptor turned to face him and bent down a bit. Ah, there. Now to begin phase two of operation Get Dress Off Brat.

With experienced quickness, the puppet reached forward, grabbing the tops of the sleeves of the dress before pulling it towards him and, effectively, over the blond's head. He took a few steps back in order to get the whole damn thing off and not just half an arms length, and once it was more-or-less free of his fellow artist, he tossed it off to the side, onto the blond's bed.

"There." Now he had to go reattach wing number two. What fun.

As the dress was pulled off, the other half of the blond's lip also ended up being ripped by his teeth. Either that or it was the repetitive use of the word "ow." Though the only sound that managed to get out was a pained squeak. Once the damned dress was finally off, Deidara scurried over to his bed, picking up the pillow and grabbing the oversized t-shirt he slept in. Once again, he was making sure the puppet was unable to see his body. And his flatness. He blushed slightly as he slipped the t-shirt on. 'Thanks, un,' he mumbled, smoothing it down a little. Seeing as it had been living under his pillow all day it was all creased. A glittery blue wing then caught his eye. Shit. He was still in fairy form. Closing his eyes tightly, he lifted his hand up to perform the hand signs needed to end the henge. There was no way he was sleeping with wings in order to let his arm heal. Once the wings had vanished the sculptor edged over to the puppeteer shyly. 'Uhm…Danna?' he asked sheepishly. 'Can I give you a hand with your other wing…thing, un?' Perhaps it could be repayment for helping him rid himself of the dress. And it would save him quite a bit of trouble too.

The puppeteer watched the blond scurry over to his bed, blinking slowly at the use of the pillow as some sort of vision sheild. Eh, whatever... Sasori rolled his eyes, sitting back down, 'hn'ing quietly in reply to the thanks. And then smirking when he, too, noticed Deidara had forgotten to get rid of the wings for the longest time.

Speaking of wings. The red-head grabbed the second blade-wing from the bed as the blond finally got to dispelling that horrid henge. He reached back with both hands, groping around to find the right spot and---

He looked up when he heard his 'name', tilting his head just slightly at the offer of help. Should he accept it? The blond wasn't the most... iCareful/i of people, so knowing his luck it would end up broken or something... But he was nice enough to offer. Not accepting could be seen as rude.

Then again, when did he worry about coming off as rude? Hell, most times he itried/i to come off as rude to the sculptor for reasons better left unsaid. Even so. Despite his better judgement, the puppet found himself nodding. "All right..."


	13. Chapter 13

Whilst awaiting an answer the blond then remembered that he would need to ask about the wiping lip thing. How could he even let that slip? Okay…pain could block out some thoughts, but this was different. Sasori had wiped his lip. Probably the most un-Sasori…ish thing that the puppet had performed all day. Even more so than that rather amusing yelp that had occurred on the journey to the village. Though he beamed when his offer was accepted. He'd ask after he'd completed the task at hand. Reattaching the blade wing. Deidara went over to his partner and took not of what he'd have to do. It looked somewhat like a hip joint. All he'd have to do was click the wing into the hole…thing on his side and hopefully it would be able to move. Similar to the way the other wing had been fitted into place. The sculptor got on his knees and directed the end of the wing to the puppet's side. 'It just fits in here, doesn't it?' he asked, just verifying what he had to do. It would suck if he screwed this up. As repayment he might even be sliced to little chunks by those very sharp blades. What had captivated Sasori to even add them to his prosthetic body anyway? 

For once, Sasori could admit that he was actually nervous about something. Or, something other than being off of the ground, anyway. There were ireasons/i why he didn't like people messing with his puppets - or in this case, parts. Most of them were the obvious things - like... Fragility, and so on. Others... Well... Okay, all of them were the obvious things.

And the puppeteer definately didn't 'feel' particularly safe in letting Deidara help peice him back together, but... He'd already agreed to let the blond help him. No going back, now. The red-head cursed mentally.

He 'hmm'ed at the sculptor's question, peering back to see what he was talking about. Ah... "Yes." That was just about right. It did fit there... "Use the other wing as a guide. Example..." He chewed warily at his bottom lip, left eye twitching - though not in iannoyance/i for once, but anxiety. He was really, really hoping the blond didn't fuck anything up. It would really, truly suck if they were sent on a mission in which he'd need both wings for whatever reason, even though such missions only came about if Hiruko was damaged beyond use.

Plus if by chance his fellow artist idid/i screw up his little task... Well, red-heads usually were known for their temperment, were they not?

It then dawned on the blond that this whole wing fitting business might be quite a challenge with one arm rendered useless. Although…it didn't look too hard. Just one good push and it would be in. If he grabbed a hold of the puppet's hand and made him hold onto the wing to keep it from slipping whilst he pushed it back into place himself it might prove to be useful. But that might distress his partner and shoo him away. Deidara really wanted to help, thinking that doing so would get him into Sasori's good books. And it even might give him a better chance of receiving a decent explanation for that incident. He lifted his injured arm and used it to hold onto the other's waist as support. Sure, it hurt like hell, and a whimper escaped as a result. With his other hand he fitted the end of the wing into place with a click. That click sounded like the voice of God to the blond as he let go of the puppet and stood up. 'There,' he sighed with relief. 'I think it's okay now, un.' Of course, Deidara couldn't tell. He was unable to control it willy nilly. But the puppet was. Therefore, if the puppet could move it, the fixing had been a success.

Obviously, the puppet wasn't deaf - he heard the blond's whimper as Deidara made use of his injured arm... Stupid. If he needed assistance, he could have asked. Sasori would have been all too willing to lend a hand in helping his little... Er... Helper, for reasons eaily figured out.

The click caused the red-head to internally cringe. The 'moment of truth', so to speak, was upon them. In other words, they'd soon find out if the sculptor successfully re-attached the wing, or if he botched the whole damn thing. It didn't even need to be said - the puppeteer was hoping for the former. The latter would just suck.

He carefully tried to extend the newly-attached wing. A wave of relief surged over him as the bladed thing did, infact, move in the correct way that it was supposed to. Smiling ever-so-slightly, he folded both extra appendages neatly on his back and turned a little so that he could see the sculptor. "Yes, it's okay." He paused, before almost hesitatingly adding on the words, "... Thank-you."

That was another reason why he didn't like letting people help him with anything. He didn't quite like thanking them.

Deidara watched eagerly to see if he had done it right. Oh, he hoped he did. He didn't really want Sasori to be broken by his hand. That would suck. He watched as the wing stretched itself out and squealed inwardly. YES! He hadn't fucked it up. Maybe this meant the blond could be his partner's "fixer" from now on. Like his little helper or something. Nah…better not voice that. He lifted his head when the puppet thanked him and smiled. 'You're welcome, un,' he giggled, walking over to the chest of drawers. He moved his fringe away from his left eye and pulled the scope off his skin. Poor scope. It hadn't been used properly all day. And with that it was dumped in the draw amongst the rest of the sculptor's belongings which lay within. He glanced over at the red head and smirked. 'Now...Do you feel like telling me why you did that, un?' he asked mockingly. If he received a "no" or something along those lines he'd just continue to ask until he received an answer…or until he was knocked out. Persistency doesn't always work.

The puppet let the smile dissolve into the usual apathetic look when the blond moved away and went over to the chest-or-drawers. Mm, now what to do... Oh, right. Sasori stood, busying himself with the self-appointed task of organizing the wood and sheets of metal he'd bought that day, placing them in places at his little workplace where he could easily get at them.

He was only half-way done with it all when he heard ithat/i question. Again. The puppeteer stopped what he was doing, frowning slightly and peering over at Deidara. Hmph. He really didn't like that tone... Well, at least the sculptor had made it easy enough to say 'no' without saying it outright. "You know I don't feel. I especially don't feel like telling you something that doesn't matter." And with that, he continued organizing things.

Ergh. That was the second time the blond had asked... If he asked anymore... Well, the puppet knew what he was going to do. The closet didn't only contain fatal poisons and painkillers. Although some of his sleeping toxins weren't exactly nice either, they'd do the trick, wouldn't they?

Deidara "hmph'd." And if he had two useable arms, he would've folded them too. Jeez, the puppet had "awkward" written all over his face, didn't he? And the more he avoided, the more the suspicious the blond grew. It wasn't exactly a hard question. All he wanted was an exclamation, yet Sasori insisted it "didn't matter" and didn't answer his question properly. He walked over to the red head's work station and blinked at him, his expression as apathetic as his partner's, as if he was mirroring him. 'Like I said. It does matter, un' the artist confirmed firmly. A mere second had passed before he lunged forward to grab the wooden wrist that was being used to sort out the sheets of metal and wood, holding it still. 'Why aren't you telling me, un?' He kept a firm grip on his partner's wrist, and his gaze locked onto him, hardly even blinking. He was so desperate for a valid exclamation. No matter what it was.

While waiting to see if the blond would ask a third time, Sasori went over several concepts for his new fairy-puppet in his mind. That fairytale book had some nice pictures, but he didn't want something that looked too nice. Plus, his reputation would probably dwindle down to nothing if he whipped out an overly girly-looking thing that looked like it walked right out of a little girl's imagination. Seriously. Then again, it would be highly iembarassing/i for an enemy to be defeated by such a thing...

His odd little train of thought was interrupted when he was joined at his little workstation by Deidara. Damnit, persistant little... He apathetically stared at his partner's equally apathetic face until the blond spoke. Before he could again retort and say that it ididn't/i matter, the sculptor had lunged forward and grabbed one of his wrists. If the puppeteer hadn't been irritated before, he sure as hell was, now.

At least he didn't ask ithat/i question again, but the new, related one was just as annoying. The puppet looked to where the blond had grabbed his wrist, quiet for such a lengthy moment until he finally said something. And no, of course, it wasn't an answer. "Let go, ibrat/i." Emphasis on the 'B-word'. Yeah, he was imildly/i annoyed.

Damn, it just wasn't getting through to him, was it? But that only spurred the slightly displeased Deidara on and his grip on the timbered arm remained tight and firm. 'No,' he muttered in response. The use of the "b" word made his eye twitch a little. Sure, he wanted to point out that he wasn't a brat, but at the moment he was awaiting an answer. And it never came. The grip loosened slightly as the blond wracked his brain out to try and remember what Sasori had done. Oh, yes…he wiped his lip…that was it. It seemed he was so obsessed with receiving an answer he had forgotten what he had been asking about. And once again the brace constricted. The cerulean blue eyes stared into the red, almost pleadingly. 'Why do you keep avoiding answering me, un?' he asked. 'It's not exactly a hard question. Just tell me why you wiped my lip, un.' He had given up on asking and was now demanding. Firmly at that. He then smirked. 'And calling me a brat is no way to get me to let go,' he said coolly.

Sasori was as stubborn as Deidara was persistant.

The puppet's expression darkened just islightly/i at the negative response to his order for the blond to let go of his wrist. The blond was just damn lucky he didn't have any poisons laying around his work station, or he'd be in so much damn pain right then...

Looking up from the grasp his partner had on him, the red-head shot a fiery glare directly at the blond, catching the almost pleading look. Geez, why couldn't he just drop the damn subject?! "Because," was the simple, pretty much ihissed/i answer to the actual question. Ha! So the brat was now demanding an answer to that other, more idamnable/i question, was he? Even so. "I don't want to," he added. It was a rather generic answer, which pretty much - in his not-so humble opinion - answered iall/i.

He snorted at the little tidbit of information, though. So, insulting the twit wouldn't get him to let go, huh? Then what about ithis/i? The red-head's free hand shot out to grab the blond's injured one, just above the wrist. Tightly. "iNow/i. Let go. Or I make it worse." While the tone was neutral, his expression... Obviously wasn't - glaring and ialmost/i murderous.

Although the darkened expression made the blond feel, maybe a little nervous he remained his grasp and awaited an answer. Maybe he'd finally get a decent one this time round. Or…maybe not. He glared at his partner angrily. "Because"? What the fuck was that? That wasn't an answer! That was just…a word. An annoying word. Especially at a time like- Oh? So Sasori hadn't finished. Easy mistake. And then the glare became more angry. Because he "didn't want to"? Bullshit. Deidara was going to find out whether dear ol' Danna wanted to tell him or not. That's how much will power the blond had got throughout the whole situation. 'That's not-' Of course he saw the puppet's hand move, but it never occurred to him that he would grab his arm. His eyes shut tightly as excruciating pain spread throughout his arm. Though he still held onto his wooden arm, even if the grip was a lot weaker. It almost felt like how Itachi had dislocated it just yesterday. 'I…I won't.' Oh, how he wanted to take those words back. Yes, the sculptor was scared.

'Won't'? So, even though the highly annoyed puppet was in the position to make the blond's injury one hell of a lot worse, he wasn't going to let the fuck go? The red-head smiled cruelly, near-murderous glare never leaving his eyes. "You won't?" He sounded iamused/i. Albeit it was a sadistic-sounding amusement, it was amusement nonetheless.

Although the little voice had made a comeback, screaming at him to let go of Deidara's poor, abused arm - as with most times, Sasori outright ignored it. He felt the need to iteach/i the sculptor how utterly unwise it was to persist in matters the puppet would rather leave alone. As well as how equally unwise it was to inot/i do something when the puppet oh-so 'politely' ordered him to. In this case, letting go.

"You mean to say you will, Deidara." With that, he tightened his grip on the blond's injury, digging his hard, wooden fingers into the area of dislocation, almost as if his intentions were to break it or just make it that much more unuseable. Which... Actually was pretty much was he was aiming to do. Of course, that annoying little voice was saying that he was probably going to regret his actions later, but... He couldn't find it in himself to care much at that moment.

Now the sculptor was far more worried about his arm than anything else, but the grip on Sasori's arm remained tight. He stared at the puppet for a couple of seconds before shaking his head. There was no way he was going to let go of the slightly murderous looking puppet. Even though, his arm was beginning to loose all feeling but pain. And there was a great deal of that. Deidara blinked as Sasori spoke. 'I-' he was cut off again. Damn, it felt like his whole arm was about to drop off. Almost instantly the hand he was using to keep ahold of his partner moved to grab onto his other wooden arm, desperately trying to get it away from his fragility. 'Lemme go,' he cried, now also trying to pull his whole self as far away from the sadistic puppeteer as possible. Even though the pulling was adding to the ever building up affliction, it didn't matter to the blond. All he wanted now was to get away. Warm, salty tears began streaking out of his eyes and down his cheeks. 'You're hurting me, Danna,' he wailed, still tugging at the artificial arm.

'Lemme go'? Isn't that what he had had sort-of asked Deidara to do just a few minutes before? To let the fuck go? Well, now he was paying the price for not listening! Near-murderous red eyes now flashed in sadistic iglee/i at the pain he was causing the poor blond. If anything, the cry had made him tighten his grip just that much more.

It was almost ithrilling/i to be able to cause his partner this much pain...

Of course, the sculptor's tries at pulling away and tugging at the wooden arm that grasped the injury didn't affect the cruel puppeteer. Given that he couldn't feel and all, he thought it was pointless.

The nasty smile grew at the wailed words. Of course he was hurting him! That was the whole friggin' ipoint/i! It was isupposed/i to be highly painful. Why else would he be doing it? The puppet snickered darkly, about to rhyme off a few conditions in which he would let go if met, but-

iPop!/i

... Before he could do so, his arm popped out of it's joint. And unlike dislocations for ihumans/i, dislocations for puppets were - while painless - pretty much... Complete in the fact that the limb actually ipopped off/i. The puppet in question merely stared in stunned silence.

Well, idamn/i.

Okay…so maybe asking to let go wasn't such a good idea. Especially seeing as the pressure increased. Did that mean Deidara was meant to say something along the lines of "Wow! I love pain! Please hold on my arm tighter!" Though there was no way those words would be used. So he simply continued to tug away from the puppet's grasp. His jaw practically dropped as the prosthetic arm popped off. He shuddered at the though that his own arm could well have come off in a very similar way judging by the amount of force that was being used to hold onto it. Seeing that as a perfect moment to escape. The blond pulled Sasori's fallen arm off his poor throbbing wrist and scrambled backwards until he was against the wall, his eyes wide with fear. Forget his arm. He was terrified for his life. After a couple of seconds of just staring at the red head, a shocked expression over his face, he shakily got up and scurried over to his bed to grab Scorpling the plush bird and his pillow. He daren't glance back at the other before he left the bedroom. There was no way the sculptor was going to sleep there that night. The bathroom seemed to be the safest place. Plus, there were medical supplies in there. And hopefully by now it was empty.

Equally wide, albeit blank - if not maybe a ilittle/i, itty-bit concerned? - ruby eyes watched the fearful blond scramble back until he met the wall. They continued to watch Deidara as he shakily stood, scurrying over to his bed to collect a pillow and that plush before fleeing the room.

After which, the full impact of what he had just done registered in his brain. He had pretty much just scared the hell out of his partner iand/i caused him a hell of a lot of pain, iand/i probably just made the blond's already injured arm as bad as it was before, with his luck - iand/i! He actually ifelt bad/i about it. That stupid little voice had been correct. Sasori was regretting his actions, much to his dismay.

The red-head stared at the door for a moment, the little voice berating him rather viciously. While he sort-of wanted to go see if the blond was all right - though he was pretty sure he knew the obvious answer - that same little voice was telling him that ispace/i was probably the best thing to put between him and the sculptor at the moment. He doubted the blond would want to see him any time soon, anyway.

He looked down at his misplaced arm, plucking it off of the ground and simply holding it. Trying to apologize for what he had just done was most likely going to be very damn difficult... If he got the chance to at all.

Fortunately, the bathroom was empty. And it seemed like the last person who had been in there had only just left. The water in the toilet was still filling up. Deidara placed his pillow and toy on the floor and examined his arm sadly. The skin had been stained red from the pressure and there were also finger marks imprinted as well. No doubt there would be bruises by tomorrow. Although, perhaps it just felt worse than it actually was. If the limb wasn't damaged in the first place, all Sasori would've done was just stop the blood flow for a little bit. But it still hurt. The blond started digging through the cabinet. Ah! New bandages. He took them out and began to wrap up his injury. Hn…didn't look like there'd be enough to make a sling…Meaning he'd probably have to go back to the doctor's the next day. And he was also unable to do hand signs. Damn…he'd have to walk then. Fun fun fun. Once the sculptor had finished dressing his arm he walked over to space where he had put his belongings. He also took a towel that had been drying on the radiator and snuggled under it. Though he made no move to lock the door. If someone wanted to use the facilities he'd just go out the room and go back in once they'd finished. Deidara sat there and just stared at his fragility. Maybe it would be a better plan to ask the puppeteer that question another time. One when he wasn't likely to rip his arm off.

It was considerably more easy to re-attach his arm than it had been to do his wings. Then again, he could isee/i his arm. Sasori simply popped it back into place, flexng the hand to make sure he'd done the simple thing correctly. Which, of course, he did.

He sent a short glance down towards his workstation; there was still stuff to organize... But, he didn't quite feel like doing it anymore. He stepped over to his bed, sitting on the edge for a moment before letting himself fall backwards. This was one of those times in which he wished his body required rest. Unfourtunately, he didn't need to sleep, and he sort-of... Couldn't. Which could make for long, dull nights when he didn't 'feel' the need to do anything.

Like right then.

If anything, he 'felt' slightly depressed. That stupid little voice wasn't helping. What was it with Deidara that could make him 'ifeel/i', anyway? He was supposed to be emotionless. Cold. Immune to any sort of feeling be it physical or otherwise. But apparently, thanks to the brat, that wasn't quite the case. Eugh... He was going to have to figure out iwhy/i that was and isoon/i.

'Til then... He closed his eyes in a sort-of mock-sleep, mentally trying to kill that damn voice before it drove him crazy.

Deidara awoke the next morning to see Tobi less than an inch away from his face. He let out a squeak and kicked the fool away. 'What the fuck are you doing, dumbass?' he asked sleepily. Damn, his back hurt. Tobi just sat there grinning and held out some money in his palm for the blond to see. 'The toothfairy came to see me last night. Look!' he said happily. But he was ignored. The sculptor was already trudging out of the bathroom, plush and pillow in hand. His good hand. The bad one was so wrapped up that moving it was almost physically impossible. Being so exhausted and the fact that his spine felt like it was about to burst out of his back and make him look like some sort of mutant ninja, Deidara never really thought about what Sasori might ask him when he went back into the bedroom. Heck, he'd forgotten about the whole incident until before he saw his arm all wrapped up. But for now he needed his bed more than anything else. The artist opened the bedroom door, not even bothering to close it and flopped onto his bed. Not very wise with his limb in the condition it was in, but nonetheless, he seemed very content and comfortable with his face buried into the remaining pillow.

The puppeteer only stirred out of his fake rest when he heard the door to the room open and not close. Hm. Deidara was back. Sasori kept still for a moment, eyes half-way open and staring at the ceiling, until he heard the creaking of the other bed as the blond flopped into it. Ha. Where-ever he'd camped out must not have been all that comfortable.

He sat up slowly, turning slightly to be able to see the sculptor. The red-head had successfully been able to make that agitating little voice - he'd figured out that not only was it what little was left of his humanity, but it doubled as his conscience - shut up, at least for a while, but that still didn't erase the annoying feelings.

Damnit.

The deceptively young-looking boy of a man sighed, trying to think of something to say. The only things that came to him were stupid, in his opinion, but he wasn't able to come up with anything ibetter/i, so...

Pointlessly running a hand through his messy hair, the puppet looked off into space - pretty much staring at one of the four walls. "Deidara, about last night - I..." And that was as far as he got before he simply stopped. Pride was keeping him from finishing the sentence. He closed his eyes once again and frowned. Really... It shouldn't be so damn hard.

Deidara was, now almost back asleep. One, Tobi had woken him up too soon. And two, he was just plain exhausted. Although he had managed to think up a good plan of how his day was going to go. He'd sleep until, say 3, then he'd go into the village to get his arm sorted out, walk home and just do nothing for the rest of the day. Much less eventful than the day before, but it worked. He tilted his head to the side so he could actually breath. One could only stay stuck against a pillow before they start to suffocate themselves. Of course, he was looking away from Sasori. The bomber was still scared and somewhat angry at him. Sure, the blond had been the one to tip him over the edge, but he didn't need to practically break his arm! His ears pricked up when he heard his partner speak, but he didn't turn over and look at him. The blond wasn't in the mood to talk to him, but listen he would. He wanted the puppet to feel sorry and apologised to him.

The lack of words coming from the sleepy blond didn't concern the puppet. Then again, it was obvious he wasn't finished saying what he was itrying/i to force himself to say. Trying being the keyword, there.

Sasori fidgeted, one hand messing with the blanket on his bed. Ah, that reminded him - he hadn't made his bed since he took the sheets off for the ring-girl puppet... Well, that was straying off topic for you. The hand playing with the blanket clenched into a fist as he kicked his mind back on track. Right, apologizing... For that little iepisode/i the night before...

"I'm..." Another pause. The puppet was getting irritated with himself, now. Fuck it, he'd just isay/i it! "I'm sorry, Deidara." Sure, it sounded a little too forced, but at least he got it out. "And if you ask that stupid question again, next time will be worse." Eh, he had to tack isomething/i like that on. If only to discourage a question he knew not the answer to.

He re-opened his eyes a fraction, sending a short glance over at his partner before standing and simply leaving the room - closing the door as he left, of course. Might as well go - the blond seemed tired. Plus, he just didn't want to stay in the room. He'd been there all night. Not exactly the most exciting place ever. Yeah, ithat/i was the reason, all right.

The feeling in his stomach was back. It always seemed to arrive when he and Sasori were alone together and there was a lot of tension in the atmosphere. That and silence didn't help. Though Deidara made no move to break the silence. He wouldn't speak and would just listen to what the puppet had to say. And his mouth would stay firmly glued shut. As were his eyes. "I"m..." He waited, his eyes open marginally, fixed on the wall opposite him. Then the sentence was finished. Che, whatever. Sasori wasn't sorry. That look in his eyes. He was enjoying it. And he wouldn't even let go. It must've been pure dumb luck that the wooden arm had fallen off in the first place. Wait…if he was sorry then did that mean- Oh…perhaps not. Meaning the blond would have to wait to get his answer to that question. And he would get it. Soon. When he heard the door close, he sat up, staring at it sadly. Sure, the sculptor hadn't answered the puppeteer in any way or form. In fact, it looked like he had completely ignored the apology. He looked down. "I didn't want him to go yet, un," he mumbled inwardly before falling back onto the duvet his eyes fluttering shut.

Hmph.

The puppeteer recalled the event of just seconds past, trekking through the hall towards the stairs. It either seemed like Deidara was sleep, or not listening - which meant iignoring/i - him. In which case... Oh, whatever. He wasn't going to repeating anything he had said, so if the blond didn't hear or accept it - too damn bad.

He started down the stairs, stopping near the middle before something about that particular day occured to him... But he just couldn't quite figure out what... Wait. That was right - it was his day to cook, wasn't it? Sasori bit back a disgruntled groan before continuing on his way down the stairs and heading for the kitchen - albeit slowly. That also meant it was the blond's turn to do the dishes - but said blond was, he guessed, asleep. And probably not able to do the dishes in the first place.

Thankfully, once he reached the kitchen, it was as of yet iempty/i. He'd be able to cook in peace. Now it was all a matter of iwhat/i to cook.

Eh. Maybe something simple. Like plain rice or miso soup...

Deidara abruptly woke up from his nap to find himself lying on his bad arm. He winced as he pulled it out from under his stomach and sat up. Maybe he could talk to the doctor about odd sleeping positions and movement whilst asleep during his visit. He looked over at the clock on his bedside table. Just gone one. Shit…how long had he been asleep for? 5 hours? Slowly, the blond sat up. Hn…Sasori still hadn't returned. Then it clicked and the blond was suddenly wide awake. He was washing up that day. Urgh, how the hell was he meant to get that done. Come to think of it…how was he going to get dressed without assistance? The was no way he was going to get the puppeteer to help him again. He was still angry at him. Heh, the doctor appointment could wait. And with that the sculptor got out of bed only to lift the blanket up and snuggle back under the covers. The only way he was going to get up was if he needed the toilet or was called away on a mission. He was going to have a nice sick day, seeing as he was incapable of doing most things with only one arm. He reached over the side of the bed to pick up his rucksack and Scorpling, who had fallen off due to Deidara's messy sleeping. He plucked the book he had been reading from the day before and chucked his bag back on the floor. Reading with one hand couldn't be too hard…could it? He could use his teeth to turn the page.

One o'clock and the slowest eater of the bunch had just finished. Sasori watched as Hidan went and put his dishes in the sink, then moved to leave - only to find one expressionless puppeteer in his path.

After a wordless moment of trying to get around the red-head, every time finding his way blocked until the puppet had had enough and just claimed the space in the door-way, the Jashinist frowned. He was highly irritated. To say the least. "Get outt'a the way, termite-bait!"

"No," was the puppet's simple, uncaring answer. Seconds later, he had risen a hand slightly, attaching a few chakra strings to the violet-eyed immortal infront of him. "Now, since it's Deidara's turn to wash and he's not down here..." He smirked slightly, earning a few muttered insults from his temporary 'partner'. "You're kindly going to help me." And by 'help', be pretty much meant 'unwillingly do them all'.

The Jashinist was inot/i pleased, but he found himself marching to the sink and getting the water ready despite what he willed his limbs to do. "You fucking ASSHOLE! LET. ME. GO!" And while he was shouting this, Hidan found his hands moving to scrub and clean the contents of the sink. Dishes from both breakfast iand/i lunch. Which made for... Quite a few.

The puppet peered over the immortal's shoulder, making sure he cleaned the dishes well and didn't accidentally make a mistake and wind up causing the disgruntled man to drop any. Of course, during the whole ordeal the releigious freak really, really wanted to just take the living puppet and use him as firewood or something. Alas, he was stuck doing what he was currently being forced to do.

"Brat". Down. Offering to help him out of the dress. Up. "Brat". Down. Almost breaking his arm. Ddddooowwwwnnnn. "I'm sorry, Deidara." Hm…he'd leave that. Deidara was still unsure if the puppet had actually meant it. It sounded to forced at the time. Well that was done. He stuck the red pen back onto the wall and stood back to examine the "nice" chart. Heh, Sasori's line looked like a freaking mountain range. Mainly going down. Judging by the reoccurring pattern, everytime the puppeteer tried to do something remotely kind, it would get drowned out by more negative things. And he also needed to get him to finish off recording his behaviour. The blond huffed, looking around the room boredly. So much for a sick day. There was nothing left to do. Reading had proven to be too much of a hassle and there was only so much that you could do with a plushie before even they got boring. So, as if it was a cure all, he slinked back over to his bed and lay back down. Hopefully time would just magically pass like when he had been asleep.

Despite the amount of dishes, it didn't take them all that long to get done. As soon as the Jashinist unwillingly put the last dish away, he found himself being lead out of the kitchen and towards the... Oh, fucking hell. Basement.

Of course, he couldn't protest. At least not anymore. Half-way through washing the dishes, his complaining and threats had annoyed Sasori to the point where he searched for and put several layers of duct tape over his mouth.

Right, so - now they were on their way to the basement, and Hidan didn't even want to know why.

Once they stopped infront of the door, the puppeteer moving ahead to open it, did it occur to the fanatic that this wasn't going to be pleasant. "It was nice of you to 'help' me with the dishes. I hope you'll be able to help me again come dinner time. Until then..."

The eerie, all itoo/i innocent smile on the puppet's face pretty much confirmed the Jashinist's suspicions. Aw, crap... The immortal found himself backing up, the puppet moving off to one side - and then he found himself running for the open door. And ileaping/i down the stairs. And ithen/i being freed of the chakra strings.

The resulting crash, thumps, thuds, curses and colourful exclaimations of pain were utterly satisfying.

Sasori closed the basement door, pausing a moment, pondering what to do. Hmph. Might as well go up to the shared room until dinner time... Speaking of, he hadn't seen Deidara during either meal time so far. Not like he cared. iReally/i. Stupid blond brat and all that.

Either way, the red-head wound up making a stop at the kitchen. Might as well pick up an apple or something.

Blue eyes snapped open as he was suddenly brought back to reality. Deidara sat up slowly, his hand holding his throbbing forehead. That dream again. Perhaps napping during the day wasn't a such good idea if it brought along scary puppetising dreams. Though, at least this time there was no Harry Potter madness mixed within. He looked around the room. Surely there was something interesting to do. Something that didn't need two arms to accomplish. The sculptor locked his eyes on the box containing his clay models. Maybe he should make something. Even though he was still mad at Sasori for the whole arm thing and now somewhat scared of him after that dream had reoccurred he felt the need to make something for him. And he knew exactly what to make as well. The blond got up and made his way over to the box. He took out a small piece of clay and let his hand devour it. It was then moulded into a flat rectangle shape. Now for the fun bit. Placing the clay onto the chest of drawers, he started to search through the top drawer, looking for his tools. When he found the leather wallet he unfolded it. The contents looked somewhat like dissecting tools. Gently, he began to carve words into the material. And it was done. Nothing too fancy. Just a small sign that says "I forgive you, un" with a little smiley face on the end. At least it was an easy solution for not talking to the puppet. Deidara then padded over to his partner's bed and lay the piece of clay on his pillow. And of course, he went back to his own bed to once again adopt the lying down position.

After a lengthy moment of rooting around in the fridge, trying to remember where the fruits were usually kept - they weren't normally used for cooking, and since he didn't need to eat anything, he wasn't all too familiar with the inside of the blasted thing - he finally found them. Behind a small container of something that looked suspiciously like a severed hand and a few chewed-on fingers, a small chocolate cupcake sitting on the lid. Sliding the asforementioned items out of the way, Sasori plucked an apple from the little sack filled with similar red fruits before closing the fridge door, turning and leaving the kitchen for the stairs.

Though he stayed at a casual, leisurely, almost slow pace. It took him a few minutes to reach the stairs, and a bit longer to get up them. He wasn't exactly in a hurry. Actually... He couldn't quite think of any ireason/i to, anyway, as he figured Deidara was probaby still asleep. Plus, nothing in the room was going anywhere - and he had all the time in the world. All things considered.

Oh, well. He eventually idid/i get to the room, opening the door and quietly stepping in before closing it, turning, looking over to the lying down blond before a spark of mischeif erupted in his red eyes. Tossing the apple up one and catching it, he aimed carefully, then tossed it at his partner's head. Albeit not as hard as he could, considering he didn't want the fruit to bruise or shatter or something. Yep, he was worried more about the fruit than the blond's noggin.

Hey, skulls iwere/i harder.

"Sleep well -...?" The puppet had to force himself not to say the oh-so loveable 'B-word'. Though he really friggin' wanted to. It was a rather addictive word - and it suited the sculptor so well, in his opinion.

Deidara had marginally opened his eyes when he heard the door open to see who was entering the room and who he would also need to shoo out. Oh! The great human puppet had returned. Of, course he didn't notice the apple, so he closed his eyes again switching back to lazy mode. It was only by sheer dumb luck that he managed to open his eyes again to see the apple flying towards him. And once again a quick reaction saved him from disastrous consequences as he grabbed the fruit millimetres away from his face. Still wanting to keep up the silent treatment, his only response to the question was a shrug, his eyes fixed on the fruit which could've nearly knocked him out. Judging by the temperature of the apple it had been residing in the fridge before dear sweet Sasori had chucked it at him. Delightful. The blond wiped it against the duvet and took a bite, not even making a move to thank his partner. It then dawned on him that something like that may come across as rude. So as a silent thanks he held the fruit out and nodded before returning it to his mouth. He had inwardly decided that he wouldn't say a word to his fellow artist until he had received an exclamation about the whole lip wiping business. So, until then he'd carry on with his nodding and sign language as such.

The red-head watched the blond grab the fruit seconds before it hit him in the face, slightly disappointed that it hadn't actually done so. Then again, if it had, the result probably would've been, while amusing, eventually annoying. Sasori's eyes never left Deidara as the sculptor wiped the fruit off, took a bite - then a short moment later, thanked him. iSilently/i. The puppet blinked slowly, then shrugged, walking towards his bed. Ha! The silent treatment or something, huh? Well, fight fire with fire... Or... Silence with silence. Whatever.

He paused when something occured to him, changing direction from going to his bed to going to the closet. That jar in there that he noticed something move in... Right, he still wanted to see what was going on with that. Unfourtunately, this meant he didn't notice the little clay sign on his pillow - yet, anyway.

Stopping at the closet and opening it, the puppet peered in and let out a quiet 'aha' when he spotted the jar in question. Yes, something was definatley moving in that jar. In the little light that made it into the closet, he could tell it was black, a bit orange,, and not alone. Hmm...

Leaning precariously into the space, reaching up for the jar, he snatched it off of the shelf before taking a hastey step back - lest he actually fall into the closet - and peering at the jar of...

Leeches? The hell? How'd they... Oh. Right. Now he remembered; he'd tried to use them as a cleaner alternative of draining some of the blood out of soon-to-be puppets without making too much of a mess. They had worked, too. Gah, he'd have to go out soon and find a new victim... It had been too long...

It was a wonder they were still alive. He smirked when he spotted a single yellow-bellied leech mingling with the orange ones; five in all. His equivalent to the blond's plush. Though it wasn't as cuddly and required blood. Speaking of which, he'd need to feed the damn things... He snuck a glance over to his ever-so-silent partner.

Hm. Nah... He'd probably kill the poor things. Tobi? Zetsu would pitch a fit. Maybe the cannibal had a corpse laying around or something...

That apple tasted a little rotten. It was all brown inside too. But Deidara wasn't complaining. He hadn't eaten anything all day and was grateful that Sasori had brought the apple up for him in the first place. So he carried on eating it anyway. And was also a little miffed when the little clay note was left unnoticed. It was pretty easy to spot even though the pillow case and the clay was almost the same colour. Well…grey and white are close enough. But that was beside the point. Slowly, the blond sat up to watch his partner walk over to the closet. What was he going in there for? He tilted his head to the side slightly, trying to guess what was in the jar that had been removed from its home. Of course at that distance it was virtually impossible to see what was in the jar. It just looked black. And in the artist's mind that meant something not too pleasant. When the puppet glanced over at him he began to feel a little uneasy. It triggered in his mind that he was on doing something to him using whatever was in the jar. He opened his mouth ask what was in there, but all that escaped was a small noise from the back of his throat. Somewhat like a small animal. To cover that up the sculptor coughed to get his partner's attention and then nodded at his pillow. Hm…if was going to keep this "vow of silence" up then he might as well put a bit of effort into it. Once again he reached for his discarded rucksack and pulled his notebook from within. Then followed by a pencil. He would talk to Sasori via paper. It couldn't be too hard, could it? It wasn't like he wrote with his bandaged up arm. And he could easily use the bed as a surface to rest against.

He was so distracted by the squirming, swimming leeches that the little animal-like noise coming from his partner's direction sort-of surprised him. Sasori looked over to realize the noise had been made iby/i Deidara. Right... He was about to return his attention to the jar before the blond coughed, successfully gaining his attention again, then nodded at his pillow. Raising a brow, he peered over towards the pillow in question and finally spotted the clay note.

Ah. Leech jar in both hands, the puppet headed over to his bed to go inspect the little note. He stopped at the head of the bed, leaning over slightly to read it - 'I forgive you, un', huh? Then what was with the whole silence thing? Eh. He grunted quietly in acknowledgement before moving to sit at the end of his bed, not bothering to pick up the note or anything. One, his hands were full. Two, he didn't quite trust his partner not to retaliate for the events of the night before.

Even though the little annelids were, to an extent, entertaining to look at, he found himself watching the blond get a notebook nad pencil from his little rucksack. So, he was actually iserious/i about not talking? He was going to go as far as to communicate via pencil and paper? That was pretty much talking, anyway, with added hassle, but...

Whatever. Maybe he could make the blond scream with his newfound pets. Heh... Maybe he could find a jar of scorpians in that closet, too...

Of course Deidara was a wee bit disappointed by the lack of response received from the note he had made. Even though that little bit of clay had originally been a simple boredom killer, it would've been nice if he received even a word. The grunt just sounded like Sasori didn't give a shit. Now that his partner was at a closer distance, he once again tried to work out what was so damn interesting about that jar. He could make out a bit of orange but the rest of the glass was covered up by the puppet's wooden hands. Looks like he'd have to ask. The blond reached forward and picked up his notebook, flipping through until he came across a blank page. He then began scribbling down the question "what's in the jar?" and held it up. He coughed again to get Sasori's attention and make him look away from whatever was in that jar. Hm…maybe it would also help if it was known why he was taking up the vow of silence in the first place. Not even waiting to see if the note had been read or not, he took it back and wrote underneath the first message. The notebook was then lifted up again with the added "until you tell me why you wiped my lip I'm not talking." In most cases that might've been seen as a sign from God that he wasn't talking, but inwardly, the sculptor had a hunch that it just might get on the red head's nerves eventually. Just a little bit.

As soon as he had returned his attention to the jar, he heard another attention-wanting cough. Once Sasori looked over, the notebook hadbeen taken back and Deidara was writing something. Tapping a finger on the glass impatiently, he waited until the notebook was held up again.

'What's in the jar' and 'until you tell me why you wiped my lip I'm not talking'. The red-head paused, before holding up the jar in order to display the leeches within clearly before pulling it back to himself and unscrewing the lid. He reached a hand in, wriggling it around until the pale-bellied leech was in his grasp, at which point he pulled his hand back out and smirked at the wriggling little thing. Then he looked back over to the blond.

Ah, fuck fighting silence with silence. "Leeches. This one is named after you," he mumbled, holding out the hand with the leech in order to give his partner a clearer view of at least one of the little blood-suckers. "As for the iother/i thing, you're going to not be talking for a long while, then." He shrugged, putting the leech back into the jar and placing the lid back on. "Not like it matters much. The silence is nice."

Though yes, it idid/i have the potential to become more irritating than the Jashinist when on one of his 'you're all heathens, why do I stay here' rants. But until ithen/i, the puppet would be enjoying it at much as he possibly could.

Holy shit. Whatever was in that jar was alive. And the sight of which made Deidara squirm a little. And then Sasori put his hand in there. Ew. Was he completely insane? When his eyes met the other's he was beginning to wonder if the alive thing in his hand was going to be thrown at him. Leeches? What the fuck were leeches doing in the closet? In a jar no less. The blond restrained himself from making a disgusted sound as he learnt that the little wriggly thing was going to be named after him. Instead he just wrote the word "ew" on the paper and held it up. He stared at the creature wriggling away on the puppet's hand and began to wonder why it hadn't started to suck blood yet. He then remembered that Sasori was made of wood. And had no food to give to the poor animals. As he received his second reply he pouted. Mainly because he didn't want to keep quiet any more. It was so unnatural for the blond to be silent for a length of time. Though he just gave a little grin at the last part. Well, he would see about that when the time came. The sculptor wrote "okay!" on the paper and the once again adopted the lying down position and at the same time stealing random glances at his partner in case he were to pour the leeches all over him.

'Ew'? The puppet snickered, wondering just how much more 'ew' it would be if he took one of the little annelids and threw it at the blond. Or strapped him down and used him as his blood source... Though he had his mind set on asking Zetsu if he had any bloody corpse-bits laying around. Like that hand down in the fridge. Eh, maybe he could just use that...

Sasori sniggered quietly at the blond's pout, though rose a brow when Deidara grinned. 'Okay', huh? So... He was all right with staying silent for the rest of his life? Ha! That suited the puppeteer just fine! No more whining or annoying little comments or anything of the sort. iPerfect/i! If only the rest of the organization could follow the sculptor's example.

He returned his attention to his swimming and squirming little friends, slowly starting to grow bored. Sure, a silent partner was nice and all... But it was unusual, creepy, and leeches could only stay interesting for a while. Damnit, damnit, da--- oh, waitaminute. His thoughts had decided to pity him, it seemed. He could now think of an explaination as to his earlier actions - albeit it was vague and... Was actually something his partner had said before. But hey, why not. It worked. "Fine." He peered over at the lazy-looking blond. "You really want to know why?"

Now all that was left to do was wait. Patiently. Not talking was proving to be quite a challenge. It was one of those things that needed to be done whilst concentrating. Maybe Deidara would just have to get used to being quiet for a while. It wasn't as if he was expecting Sasori to answer that question any time soon. Maybe in a day or two? Of course he'd talk to others, just not mr. Puppet man. He turned his head to look over at his partner. Hm…he seemed to be losing fixation of the leeches in the jar. How could something so icky looking be so entertaining? He was about to reach up to grab his notebook and write out that very question when he heard the word "fine." The blond looked over at the puppeteer again and blinked slowly. And then grinned, nodding vigorously. For two reasons. One he wouldn't need to keep up this vow of silence for much longer and two…He'd finally get to know why the hell Sasori had wiped his lip. And seeing as he had nearly had his arm broken because of that damned question it felt like he had a right to know.

Why had he even bothered to ask if the blond really wanted to know? He already knew the damn answer. The grin and nod didn't come as a surprise - heh... Perhaps he should've tacked on 'I'll tell only if you say something'. Oh well. Too late for that. "All right..." Sasori momentarily looked back to the jar in his hands, leaning forward in order to place it on the floor next to his bed so that he could cross his arms without having to hug it or something.

Then he looked back over to Deidara, the red-head's expression as apathetic and utterly blank as ever. Hmm... Okay, by now he was just stalling. But since the sculptor wanted to know oh-so much, he didn't see the harm in making him wait for a minute or two longer...

Finally he shrugged, looking from the blond to the wall, barely surpressing a creepy little grin of his own. "'It felt right'," he quoted. "At the time." And it sort-of had, too, looking back on it - much the to puppet's annoyance, of course. Hn... Felt. Feel. iWhy/i was the blond able to make him, an iemotionless/i puppet, ifeel/i, anyway? Really, it agitated him to no end... The creepy, near-malicious grin broke through as he cast a side-glance over at his partner. "I hate you." And to an extent, he meant it, too.

Waiting was proving to be almost as hard as not speaking. Though thankfully Deidara wouldn't have to keep up this vow of silence for much longer. Finally, he was going to receive his answer. He sat up, eyes still locked on the puppet here as he awaited reply. And it came. At first, all the blond could do was blink. "It felt right"? Hm…that was the same thing he had said to Sasori after kissing him. But wait…hadn't he make a point of being unable to return any of the feelings he had for him? Because the red head had no feelings. A tiny little grin appeared on the sculptor's lips. Maybe there was a chance. It might be a teeny weeny little chance, but it was a chance nonetheless. But then those words came and his mouth opened slightly to match his widened eyes. The feeling in his stomach had changed, making it much more painful. It was as if someone had ripped the organ from his body completely, torn it open and replaced it once again. And the pain was quickly rising up to his chestal section. Even though the blue eyes were beginning to water, Deidara sniggered slightly. 'Funny,' he muttered, his gazed still bound to the scarlet eyes. He knew that perhaps as soon as he voiced the next part he would regret it, but at that moment even that felt right. 'I feel exactly the opposite way towards you, un.'

Half-lidded red eyes simply stared back into his partner's watering blue. It wouldn't be the first time, all thanks to recent events, but the puppeteer felt a little... Guilty.

The blond's words had sparked a little bit of confusion in Sasori's thoughts. Despite everything, the sculptor still... Had ithose/i sort of feelings towards him? Despite calling him 'brat', nearly breaking his arm the night before, and several other things he could be bothered to remember at the moment...? "I don't see why, Deidara." If their roles had been reversed, the puppet would've killed his partner by now.

However, he couldn't help but notice... Something. Something he didn't like, but that little scrap of his humanity was encouraging it nonetheless. A different... Eugh, 'ifeeling/i', other than annoyance, hate, anger, sadistic glee... As much as he tried to drown it out, he couldn't. If anything, it made the 'feeling' stronger.

The puppet narrowed his eyes, glaring at the blond. This whole feeling thing was ihis/i fault, afterall. If it weren't for him, he'd still be iperfectly/i emotionless. "But unfourtunately..." He let the sentence trail off, averting his gaze and inwardly kicking himself. No, that would be confessing to what he had made clear was iimpossible/i. "Hn. Brat." The red-head shook his head, standing and making his way towards the door. One, he wanted to get out of the room before he said or did something he didn't quite want to. And two... It was probably about time to go start dinner.

Even though Deidara agreed to talking after receiving his answer, he didn't really want to anymore. He wasn't worried about starting an argument or something along those lines. He just couldn't think of anything to say. Of course Sasori didn't see why. The blond didn't either. How was he meant to know how to control his feelings toward people? Especially seeing as he'd managed to fall in love with a cruel and spiteful puppet that repeatedly showed how little respect he had for him. He pulled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his good arm around them to hold them up, letting his injury just hang loosely off the bed. The sculptor rested his chin on his knees and turned his facade away from his partner. Even looking at him caused that pain to accelerate and spread. Hearing the puppeteer's voice again made him wince and tighten his grip on his legs. He waited for the sentence to finish, but it never came. "But unfortunately" what? The blond was about to ask for the sentence to be finished, but he stopped himself. No doubt it would have a similar result to the "why did you wipe my lip?" question. So he remained silent. The blue eyes shut, praying that an action like that would prevent the tears from seeping out. He didn't even bother to retaliate to the use of the "b word." He'd just have to get used to it. Deidara soon opened his eyes to find himself quickly unfolding himself and making his way towards the door. He grabbed the puppet's hand tightly, his gaze fixed to the ground. 'Don't go,' he whispered.

Oh, good. The blond wasn't inquired as to what he had been going to say... But he wasn't protesting to being called a brat, either, which was sort of... Odd? Worrisome, almost. Though he sort-of wanted to look back at the blond, he decided not to - that would probably just make him 'feel' more... Bad. He was leaving the room, and that was that.

Or at least he had ithought/i that was that.

Sasori frowned when he heard the unmistakeable creak of a bed moving as 'someone' got off of it, as well as foot steps heading towards him. He reached out to grab the doorknob, but found his hand being grabbed instead. The frown deepened as his eyes trailed up from the hand, to the arm, to the face. 'Don't go'? But he was after saying he hated the blond iand/i he called him a brat again. Why would he iwant/i him to go? Bah, he was inever/i going to understand his partner.

To avoid a similar incident like the one from ilast/i time, he decided not to ask Deidara to let go. Instead, he merely stared at the sculptor, expression showing nothing of his thoughts. "Why not?" Well, he wanted to know. The only way to get answers was to ask and hope the other party would give one. So it was worth a try.

Plus he needed to focus on something other than that stupid little voice. It wanted him to try comforting his partner, but he'd be damned if he listened. Him? Comfort someone? Ha, when hell froze over and pigs flew!

Even so, he found his free hand gravitating upwards in order to cup the blond's chin so that he could get him to look up. Okay, so it wasn't an overly icomforting/i gesture, per se, but whatever.

The grip remained tight on the puppet's hand. Deidara was in no way prepared to let go of him just yet. And his uneasy gaze also remained locked to the ground. "Why not?" Basically because he wanted the puppet to stay with him. He didn't like being alone and he liked being in the company of his fellow artist. Most of the time. Well, maybe not most of the time…sometimes. When they were being civil. 'Coz I dun want you to,' he mumbled, his eyes shut. They opened when he felt the puppeteer's hand cup his chin. What? He'd only just said he hated him and now he was comforting him? But it wasn't as if the sculptor was complaining. He quite liked the feel of this comfort. And he wanted more. He lifted his hand that had been previously used to keep ahold of Sasori's hand moved it to brush against his other. Slowly, he moved the wooden hand so it was cupping his cheek and pulled it away to once again entwine with the fingers that had originally moved to open the door. A slight blush appeared across his cheeks. The pain seemed to have numbed a little, replaced by butterflies. The exact feeling he had got when asking his partner about his sense of touch. Sheepishly, he leant forward a little, knowing that the puppet might not react too kindly to the next action. He gently placed his lips on the wooden cheek before quickly pulling away, his blush increasing. 'Please stay, un,' he said quietly, biting his lip slightly and casting his gaze at the wall behind Sasori.

The puppeteer 'hn'd nearly inaudibly at the verbal reply the blond gave. Didn't want him to leave? He had been about to point out that he didn't have much of a choice in the matter given what day it was, but stopped short at the blond's reaction to his try at a comforting gesture.

Red eyes could just watch with mild interest as the hand holding his let go and moved up to his other one, slowly moving it so that it was cupping the sculptor's cheek rather than his chin. He couldn't help but smirk slightly at the slight blush that spread across his partner's cheeks once that one hand was back down with his other one, where it had been before it moved.

Though he couldn't say he was all too surprised at Deidara's next action, it still came as a bit of a shock. Sasori's eyes widened a fraction and the smirk dissolved into an unsure ghost of a smile. He simply stared at the blond, not bothering to try meeting his eyes - they weren't exactly focussed on him, anyway, he could tell that much. If there ever was a time he wished he could actually feel things iphysically/i, that moment had been it.

iDinner be damned/i. And for once, at least for this one time, he was going with that little sliver of humanity kicking around in his thoughts and inot/i acting in an adverse manner.

As a bit of a reply, the puppet leaned forward, almost mimicking the sculptor's earlier movements. Almost. He stopped just a few small millimetres away, trying to force eye-contact more than anything else. "... Fine." Gently, his free hand traced down along the blond's cheek to his jaw, and from his jaw to his neck, eventually coming to a stop once it reached his shoulder. "I'll stay." For as long as he could before someone dragged him off to cook, anyway.


	14. Chapter 14

Deidara was beginning to wonder if his previous action had been the right thing to do. He felt slightly foolish. Maybe a hug or something like that would've been a better option. "Fine." His eyes moved from the wall and stared back into Sasori's. He smiled weakly. So…it had worked? He was going to stay? He was about to thank his partner for staying when he was cut off by the wooden hand that had previously been touching his cheek moving down to his jaw, then to his neck, then to his shoulder. Even that caused his already visible blush redden slightly. When his request was accepted, his eyes seemed to water more. The blond quickly pulled his hand away from where it had been previously and flung his arm around his partner, his head nested in the wooden shoulder, tears streaking down his cheeks. If only he could lift his other arm. 'I'm sorry,' he sobbed, his grip around the puppet's body tightening. 'I'm sorry for whatever I've done to make you hate me, un.' He was really beginning to worry about that. Only yesterday Sasori answered Dei's little question about liking him with a "maybe". And now he hated him? It was all mounting up to make a big bubble of confusion. A bubble, which was terrifyingly close to bursting. And people do stupid things when they're confused. Of course, the sculptor, being blond would probably do extra stupid things. Things that he would no doubt regret soon after performing them. But for now, he was just inwardly praying that the puppet wouldn't push him away from this hug. He'd already received enough rejection from him in the last two days and he didn't need anymore. 

The slight reddening of the blush at his actions was, of course, noted by the red-head. Ah, Deidara was so easily... Hm... What was the word - flustered? Ha. Sasori found some of his thoughts straying to different ways to try making the blond blush even more - they were quickly surpressed, of course, and would've made the puppet turn a little pink as well if he was flesh and blood.

A brow was raised slightly when, soon after he had said he was going to stay, the blond's eyes seemed to become more water. What had he done inow/i? This time his partner's actions came as a complete surprise when the arm was flung around him, head nested in his shoulder. The puppet frowned. What was he sorry fo--- ioh/i... That.

Fighting the urge to push the sculptor away in order to escape the tight embrace, he closed his eyes and instead wrapped the arm that wasn't sort-of trapped inbetween them - which was the one whose hand had been moments ago resting on the blond's shoulder - around his lower back. "Don't be." He had nothing ito/i be sorry about, really... Unless he wanted to be sorry about being born. Well... Maybe not ithat/i far back. "I don't..." Wait, no... That would be lying. To an extent, he idid/i hate the blond, though not for anything intentionally done by him. He paused, thinking for a moment. Ah... How should he word that without making it sound utterly stupid?

Hm... Pussy-footing around it all was pretty stupid, anyway. He moved his hand up in order to play around with a strand of his partner's hair, letting his eyes close half-way. "The only thing you've done to make me hate you has been to make me feel for you." There. He'd let the blond make of that what he would.

Deidara carried on clinging to the puppet, expecting to be pushed away. The tight grip meant that it might be a little bit harder to make him let go. He was quite surprised when he felt the puppet instead, wrapped his own arm around him in response. It felt somewhat comfortable. He'd never had his hugs returned by the puppeteer before. "Don't be." He lifted his head slightly. Why shouldn't he be? He was trying his best to make up with him and he was truly sorry. Even though he didn't know what for. Yet. The blond carried on his hug until he heard the words "I don't…" He pulled his head up and faced the red head, watery eyes wide. 'What?' he asked in his near to silent voice. He didn't hate him now? That bubble was getting ever closer to exploding. Why did Sasori have to be so misleading? And confusing. The blush once again appeared when the blond felt his hair being touched by his partner. He wanted to ask why he had suddenly got the motivation to do that, when he heard him speak again. With the exclamation. The blue eyes widened even more so than they had been in the beginning, his mouth hanging open slightly. 'You,' he began, but it came out as a croak. The sculptor's heart seemed to be beating out of control. Almost painfully. Sasori had…feelings for him? Hadn't he pointed out yesterday that he wouldn't be able to return those feelings? 'Danna…' he whispered, slowly moving his bad arm up to brush against the puppet's cheek. And the bubble burst. Deidara leant forward, his once again pressing up against Sasori's. He didn't care if he was going to be pushed away and ordered to leave again. He wanted to show him how much he loved him.

Ah, another thing to add to the growing list of 'things that make Deidara blush'; touching his hair. Even if he didn't quite want to, he put the thought on one of the many shelves of his mind that was already becoming dedicated to that particular thing. Though it would've probably been more efficient to start a list of what did inot/i make the blond blush - it would probably be smaller.

Sasori only stared into the widened, watery blue eyes after he had finished his little explaination as to why he sort-of hated the sculptor. The croak of a 'you' made him just slightly curious - what had the blond been going to say? Though he could make an educated guess. But words, like touches, mattered little to the puppet, even though that little part of him begged to differ, pointing out that they idid/i. Pointing out that he knew nothing - he hadn't let himself experience these sorts of feelings until now, though touch was indeed lost on him. Pointing out that words idid/i matter.

He was brought out of his little reverie at the single, whispered word, eyes widening just slightly in a questioning way when he observed the blond moving his bad arm upwards. Of course, he couldn't feel it brush against his cheek, although he let himself move lightly into the touch, anyway. There wouldn't be anything wrong in pretending, right?

Though his partner's next little act of affection did infact make the puppet want to push him away as a repeat of last time, the part of him that was somehow ienjoying/i how close they were, the unnoticeable contact - ievery/ithing - won out. If anything, he noticed himself unconciously leaning into Deidara - albeit gently. The hand playing with the blond's hair slowly started weaving itself in it, almost... Encouragingly. Or reassuringly in the odd fact that he wasn't going to pull away this time.

Hm…Sasori was taking surprisingly long to pull away from the kiss. And Deidara was fully prepared to be the one to pull away. He was about to do just that when he felt the puppet lean in. Wait, what? He leant in. The blue eyes had to open again just to check that he wasn't just imagining things. No…he had definitely moved in. Shyly, he moved the hand that had previously been touching the wooden cheek and placed it on the back of his neck. Sure, it hurt, but he wasn't quite bothered about that right now. He had much more important things to take care of. He carried on moving his lips against the red head's, a little unsure of what to do next. The blond was well aware that he might not react kindly to deepening the kiss. He felt a little foolish for that though. Of course he'd thought about doing this hundreds of times before, but was now feeling a little foolish about not taking into account what he would do when the time actually came. Perhaps he never even imagined it happening. Even though the hand tangled in his hair felt reassuring, he had to break the kiss. He listened as the contact broke, his eyes opening again slowly to lock onto Sasori's beautiful red eyes. Deidara was speechless even though there were so many questions he was just dying to ask, namely "why didn't you shove me away?" He couldn't exactly believe what had just happened. It was all too surreal. All too dreamlike. And it ended far too quickly. Though he restrained himself from kissing Sasori again. He didn't want to seem too eager or needy. He'd just wait to see how he would react.

The red-head was vaguely aware of the hand moving from his cheek to his neck - then again, he could see it out of the corner of his eyes. Vaguely he noted that that was the blond's injured arm - a small pang of guilt hit him due to his actions the night before, though he quickly shoved them out of his mind. If the sculptor wanted to irritate his injury needlessly, it wasn't the puppet's problem.

He sort-of picked up on the little bit of unsureness the blond was going through - or maybe it was his own? Considering he didn't know what to do. Kissing was something done by touch and some instinct - it was obvious the puppet had neither, as one usually lead to the other. It wasn't something he paid much attention to, either, when it came to his years of being amongst the living. He hadn't had any experience in it when he had still been human, either. Even the surviving bit of his humanity agreed with him that that was a bit of a... Clueless, gray area. It would be best just to let Deidara do whatever it was he was doing. Even if part of him still wanted to resist, pull away and verbally - maybe even physically - assault the blond.

Sasori was curious when the blond was the one to break the contact. That was... Short. Though when their eyes - his ruby red to Deidara's cerulean blue - locked onto eachother, he could almost isee/i the questions swimming around in his partner's mind. The eyes were the windows to the soul, and all.

The hand tangled in the blond's hair slowly and gently traced it's way down the back of his head, stopping just above his neck. The puppet tilted his own head slightly, almost unnoticeably so. Hm. Should he wait for a question to be asked, or should he take the liberty of... Ah, why not. "Why did you stop?" It iwas/i what the blond wanted, wasn't it?

As Sasori moved his hand around in the blond's hair, he began to wonder why he'd never let anyone touch his hair in this was before. Maybe in other circumstances he might've even slapped the wooden hand away. But the feeling it gave him was different. It tickled slightly, but in a good way. Not in a crazy, deadly way. In an affectionate way. "Why did you stop?" Gah. No. The sculptor looked away slightly, loosening his grip slightly, his blush reappearing again. God! He'd just made a complete fool of himself by simply pulling away. And it seemed the aftershocks of the bubble popping were beginning to take effect. He looked back at his partner again, his mouth open ready to answer. But nothing came out. Damn, he didn't even know what to say. He swallowed slowly. 'I…' He stopped, rethinking his comeback. If he said that, he'd sound particularly stupid. But he found himself saying it anyway. 'I didn't know what to do…' he mumbled, feeling extremely foolish, averting his gaze once again. He, along with the puppet had not exactly mastered the whole relationship thing. The idea of it was a little unnerving and somewhat terrifying. Especially since he was expecting the temperamental and violent red head to lash out at any second. It was like walking on eggshells covered by thin ice. One wrong move could make the whole thing fall to pieces. Something Deidara didn't particularly want. And that little question was still squirming around, begging to be asked. Sure, it might even help him to understand how Sasori felt for him, but then again…it would be one of those eggshell questions. Damn, why did he have to feel so nervous? He closed his eyes and reopened them so they were bound to the other's. 'Why didn't you pull away, un?'

The puppet watched Deidara look away, blushing - and loosening his grip? - at the question. What, had he asked something wrong? Sasori fought back a frown at the reaction, waiting for a reply of any sort when the blond looked back to him. Was he going to say something, or just stand there looking like a cross between a deer stuck in the headlights and a fish?

Finally, an answer idid/i come. Or, rather, the beginning of an answer. He... What? Soon enough, though, his partner continued. Ah... He hadn't known what to do. So, what, the puppet was supposed to? He allowed himself a slight, humoured smirk when his partner had yet again averted his gaze. "I didn't, either," he pointed out, quietly. Might as well not let the blond feel itoo/i... Stupid, or something. Or make it seem like he knew this kind of thing. At least the sculptor was guided by physical feeling; the puppet was diving in blind.

Mmph. That aggressive part of him that he had been surpressing so far was getting less easy to contain. The red-head continued toying around with the golden hair, patiently waiting for the blond to do or say something else. Finally, he did - and it was a question that incited mild irritation on his part. What? He stared calmly back into the sculptor's reopened eyes. Why didn't he pull away? What, was he isupposed/i to pull away? His hand somewhat latched onto a particular section of his partner's hair, almost as if he were contemplating forcing the ibrat/i away. "Does it matter?" The blond had a chance to do whatever it was he had wanted to do, and he was going to waste it with questions?

Oh…so the puppet didn't know what he was doing either. Excellent. Meaning they were both completely clueless. But it still didn't help Deidara think of what to do. In those lovey dovey films that Zetsu's good half had chosen for movie night it sorta went from kissing, to making out and then lots of sex and babies. The thought of that scared him a little. There was nothing wrong with just normal kissing. It felt quite nice. Almost as nice as the feel of Sasori playing with his hair. It was kind of like a massage. Until it latched onto that particular part of his hair. Not enough to make it hurt, but enough to send alarm bells ringing. Bad question. Stupid question. 'No no no, it doesn't, un,' the blond said quickly, trying to erase the previous question. 'Ignore me.' Well…he'd definitely cracked at least one egg shell covered in ice. He'd have to be extra careful and think about the consequences of what he was going to say before saying it. Otherwise previous events could be repeated and the whole mood would be killed. As he tried to recover it, he pulled the arm that had been wrapped around the puppeteer and searched for the wooden hand buried in his hair, clasping it and moving it up slightly. 'You were a little tight, un,' the sculptor said before leaning in to kiss his partner again and snake his arm around his waist again. This time it'd last longer. But no tongues. That would seem maybe a little bit too forward. He pulled away slowly after what seemed to be double the length of the last kiss and bit his lip slightly. 'Does this…' Wait. No. Think. That was a very dangerous question. Perhaps even more dangerous than the last. Deidara might even get beaten up as a result. But he really wanted to know. He took a deep breath. 'Does this mean we're going out?' he asked shyly, his eyes meeting the scarlet.

No, it didn't matter? Good answer. Though it didn't the slight grip he had on that one particular section of Deidara's hair, as it istill/i sort-of irked him. But the 'ignore me' made the puppet blink slowly. If he were to ignore the blond, he'd wind up leaving to go get dinner ready, so... And considering their positions, it wasn't exactly possible to ignore him. Unless he just meant that question. In which case Sasori was all too willing to oblige.

The puppet 'hn'd quietly when he noticed the sculptor reaching up to slightly move the hand he had in his hair up a little. A bit tight, hmm? Ha. At least he hadn't pulled. Oh well - he observed as his partner leaned in again for another kiss before proceeding once more with his gentle, massage-like movements. He leaned in to a point this time, too, pondering whether or not he should try to... Respond. No, it would probably be best that he didn't - he'd probably make some sort of freakish mistake. Wait... iWhy/i was he worried about that?

No matter, he'd play it safe, anyway. He busied his mind with counting the seconds passing with the kiss before the blond slowly pulled away again. Hm - that one lasted longer. And... Ah, geez. He was going to ask another question, wasn't he. Unfourtunately, yes. 'Does this...' ... Does this, what now? The red-head waited with thinning patience for the blond to continue, and had to restrain from just shoving him away when he did.

Does this mean they were iwhat/i?! Going out? As in... As in idating/i or something? Red eyes widened slightly, staring into the blue. He was planning on this being a one-time thing - he wasn't ready to make any sort of commitment to anything dealing with the blond. Then there were other factors slightly more depressing than that - but then, it wasn't like it would be a life-long thing, right? ... He almost snorted at that thought. His widened eyes narrowed considerably, hand leaving the sculptor's hair while the one stuck between them move to push him away. Would that be answer enough? Ah, he might as well isay/i it, too! "No." Sure, he might ifeel/i things for the blond, but not ithat/i strongly.

Even before Sasori verbally answered, Deidara already knew what the answer was going to be. How could he have been so naïve to even anticipate the response being anything other than "no"? Kidding himself, believing that there would be satisfaction at the end of all this. It hurt even more when he was physically pushed away. It made the blond angry. At both himself and the human puppet. Angry at himself for letting himself kiss him again. Sure, he thought that this time it would be different. And it was. But the ending had almost exactly the same emotional impact as the first. He was also angry for fooling himself that maybe he'd finally get what he wanted. Sasori. Even though he was enraged with himself, the fury was so much greater for him. From the sculptor's point of view, his partner hadn't been planning on the little intimate moment to carry on from the very beginning. He'd once again shown how little regard he had for him and his feelings. He'd been leading him on. Like a puppet on a string. And that was when Deidara snapped. He took a firm grip on the hand that had been used to push him away, enraged cerulean eyes boring into red. 'Why didn't you push me away, then? Why did you let me kiss you?' he cried, his grip tightening on the wooden hand, almost as if he was determined to mould into a completely different shape. Of course it mattered. It mattered so much. So much it was physically painful. 'You're a liar. You don't have feelings for me. You never did and never will.' Tears of anguish were beginning to find there way down the artist's cheeks again, some falling straight onto the prosthetic arm. 'I'm hurting so much inside. But you can't see it…therefore, you don't give a shit. You've never given a shit about me.' That came out a lot more calmly. It was almost a whimper. Or maybe even a cry for help. Even the look in his eyes had changed. From fury to pleading. Pleading that maybe some of this had finally found its way into Sasori's mind.

The puppet had been hoping just to be able to leave the room without much of a fuss. Apparently, that was something was was inot/i going to be happening.

Deidara's sudden change pretty much took the puppeteer by surprise, and it clearly showed when the blond grabbed the hand he'd used to seperate them. Sasori stared back into his partner's enraged eyes, his own red showing mild shock for a few seconds before it was overtaken by naught but apathy. Why didn't he push him away? Why did he allow the kiss? Why, why, why - why couldn't the sculptor learn not to question things? Though they were good questions... He wasn't going to bother getting into them. He merely listened as the blond continued his little speech, glancing down at where he had a grip on his arm. Thankfully he had used a hard wood for the majority of his body...

Hm. A liar, was he? The sculptor was wrong. He idid/i have feelings for him... He just didn't know the proper way to... No, he just ididn't/i want to express them. He wasn't supposed to have them, anyway, and even if he idid/i give in and just... Let them out, they couldn't last forever. It was near impossible. No feelings lasted forever, he'd observed that much throughout his life - and then there was just that. Life. Unless some freak accident occured, he'd outlive his partner by a longshot... What then? If the damnable feelings lasted, what then?

The red-head frowned when he saw droplets fall onto his arm. Tears? He looked back up, catching the change in Deidara's eyes that followed his words. He didn't exactly no what to say to that - or to any of it, for that matter. The blond was hurting inside...? And he was right. He icouldn't/i see it. How was he supposed to care if he could see it? How... Stupid. For once, the red-head found himself actually iwanting/i to comfort his partner.Though... It probably wouldn't be very welcome right then. Ha...

After a moment of struggling for words - he could only come up with three. Why was it that words failed him in these situations? It was... Irritating... He bowed his head in order to escape the pleading look, settling on keeping his eyes to the ground. "... That's not true, Deidara." Okay, four words. But the name didn't exactly count.

The rage was beginning to come back. And at a fast pace too. Blinded by fury, he could've yanked the puppet's head off his body and thrown it outside just as some relief. Even though…mere seconds later that action would be regretted. His left eye twitched slightly as Sasori lowered his head. That was slightly annoying. Guess he now knew how the other felt when his head was facing down or the gaze was averted. The blue eyes narrowed at the three…well…four words. He was lying again? Was he just doing that to purposely annoy him. Or was it out of pitty. Either way he grabbed the wooden cheeks and roughly pulled his head up. 'It's not true?' he asked furiously. 'Of course it's fucking true. All I am to you is some stupid little kid that you're stuck with who just so happened to fall in love with you-' He stopped, almost gasping at what had fallen from his lips and his eyes widening. He couldn't even believe he'd said that out loud. He'd been so careless to let something like that slip. The blond looked away slightly, trying to think about something else. Something less upsetting. Something that had nothing to do with the red head. Hm…the apple that had proved to transform into his lunch must be getting a little brown by now…how ungrateful that must seem to…Sasori. Ah, no! Something else. The leeches…yeah, they must be getting pretty hungry. How long had they been in…Sasori's cupboard. No…there was nothing. Nothing to keep his mind off the puppeteer. The sculptor looked back, maybe a little less angered than before. There was no way he was going to be able to bite back those words he had uttered, so might as well carry on. 'That's all I am to you…am I right, un?' Nothing more. And he would never be anything more. Not even if he tried as hard as he could.

Hmm. The floor was so interesting - was that an ant he could see? At least he hoped it was an ant, not a termite... He didn't get a chance to make sure, as the next thing he knew the sculptor had roughly pulled his head up and continued speaking. Gah, he felt like a friggin' sixteen year old again being told off by a parent or something...

Sasori almost reluctantly stared at Deidara as the blond started in to what the red-head thought was going to be a long tirade about the topic at hand - until he abruptly stopped. The abrupt stop allowed for the words to register in the puppet's mind. It iwasn't/i true, damnit, he didn't lie! He wanted to much to just yell that out, though the last bit of the blond's words before he had ceased caused complete silence on the puppeteer's end.

Stupid little kid? Well... He wasn't going to deny that. Sometimes, that's exactly what he thought of his partner. Because to Sasori, Deidara iwas/i a kid. Stupid - iat times/i - too. But, unfourtunately, that iwasn't/i all.

Hn... Love? So that's what these oh-so mysterious feelings the blond spoke of were. Ha... A word the puppet didn't exactly like. No, he hated the word. The iconcept/i. It was never forever, no matter what. The fact that his partner had just unwittingly confessed such a thing towards the puppet made him loathe the word that much more. Why - ihow/i - could the brat come to 'love' something like him, anyway? He wasn't even ireal/i, in the human sense of the word. He was naught but a faux human; fake, a mockery. Well, now. Ever since that time way-back-when...

How could he get his partner to notice that? Wait... Did he even iwant/i to?

Damnit. He watched as the blond looked back to him, continuing what he had been going to say. What? ... Was that all he was to the red-head? That was also a good question. What iwas/i the blond to him? A stupid little kid, yes. But - something else, too... Somehow. He just couldn't put it to words... The puppet looked, to an extent, sad. Yes, the emotionless, fake human's red eyes looked as sorrowful as puppet eyes could. Was that all he was to him? Even though it probably wasn't going to be received well, he slowly rose a wooden hand to brush against one of the blond'a cheeks. "... No... You're wrong." ... He just didn't know how to make it believable, even to that one particular part of himself.

Why was he taking so long to answer? Had it finally clicked? Had he finally realised that Deidara was actually correct about the whole thing? He was beginning to get even more frustrated at the lack of response from his partner. Maybe he just didn't want to answer because he knew the blond was right. Maybe he disliked that. For the first time since he joined Akatsuki, he was beginning to feel that he was the stronger and more dominant one, and not Sasori. The sculptor even noted that it didn't suit his personality to fight back in this way. Come to think of it, the last time he'd done something remotely similar to this was during childhood during maybe a less important situation to this current one. When the puppet's hand rose to brush against of his cheeks, he quickly slapped it away. Of course he liked the feel of his hand against him, but right now it wasn't needed. The blond was still determined to get to solve the problem. Was it even a problem? He wasn't even thinking straight anymore. But that look in those red eyes. Just looking in them wanted to make the artist cry again. He knew he couldn't. He knew he needed to keep control of the situation or it would never be resolved. In all his days of being partnered up with Sasori, he could never recall any moments of when he had shown any sadness. And it frightened him. As well as giving him hope. Had his message been put across and taken into account? Had it triggered something in his partner's mind and made him realise how Deidara felt about all this? "…No…you're wrong." He was still at that? He was still claiming that he was wrong. But the sculptor was beginning to get curious. Keeping his expression as wooden as he could he muttered, 'Okay.' If the human puppet had something to say, he'd listen. 'Explain to me how I'm "wrong,"' he said slowly and firmly. It came out as more of an order than a request. And knowing Sasori, he'd try to worm his way out of answering, but the blond was having none of it. He wanted to know how he was wrong. 'And yes. It does matter,' he added quickly, not even leaving space for a reply to be received. The sculptor was so confused. Maybe Sasori could even see how confused he was. He needed answers to all those questions. He needed explanations to all his queries. Perhaps they'd come…though maybe not in the way he would anticipate them to. But he still hoped.

It dawned on the puppet that ihe/i wasn't in control of the situation when the blond had quickly slapped his hand away. It was slightly disconcerting - given that he was a puppeteer, he craved control. When had he given it up? iWhy/i had he given it up? If he had, at all. Manipulation was a form of control, too...

No. That would be wrong, iand/i it would probably make the situation more worse than it was. It wasn't like Sasori was all that keen on morals, he just didn't want to get Deidara too angry at him again. That little moment seconds - minutes? - before had been... Uncomfortable, enough. Hell, his position in igeneral/i wasn't all too nice. It almost made him... Feel, claustrophobic? Panicky? One or the other.

The look of sorrow slowly became naught but a mask to cover that up, however. He barely blinked when the sculptor began to speak, the panicky-claustrophobic feeling making itself more apparent when he was pretty much ordered to explain why the blond was incorrect. It would be all well and nice if he icould/i! But... He icouldn't/i. The words wouldn't come to him - and apparently explaining 'did matter'. So there was no getting out of it... Verbally, at any rate. The red-head stayed silent, simply staring back at his partner.

Yes, he icould/i see how confused the blond was. As much as he wanted to provide answers, however, none would come. Nothing. Not even a single syllable. Towards the actual answer, anyway. "I... Can't..." The red eyes closed, their owner moving to take a step back in order to hopefully leave the room. He was going downstairs, cooking the last meal of the day, and then he was going to avoid Deidara for a long, long while. At least, that was the plan. And to get out of there before he idid/i something possibly even worse than the night before in order to regain control; to establish who was where when it came to such things.

Damn he looked so…scared. No…what was the word? Panicky? And it was making the blond want to just let Sasori go on his merry way and they could both leave this little tremor behind. But he needed answers. Hn…maybe it would've been easier to just sit down and talk about things. But it seemed the whole oil and water not mixing thing was too apparent. Whenever they ever had a civilised conversation it more often than not would unfold into a screamfest. Guess it was too late for that now. So he waited for an answer. And it seemed his rage was fizzling away a little. Where the hell had Deidara got that from anyway? Could it have rubbed off from the puppeteer? He sighed, and looked away slightly when he received "I can't" as an answer. He'd been expecting something better. Maybe something polite or kind? Che, as if Sasori would ever say anything like that. The sculptor cursed himself for even thinking such a thing and let go of his wooden cheeks. He was going to take the final stab by saying something like "I knew it" or "I was right," but that would be once again venturing into dangerous territory. So instead, the highly confused, highly upset and highly pained blond shuffled back over to his bed and sat down, plucking his apple from the duvet to start picking at it, trying to get rid of some of the squishy brown bits that formed on it. He remained silent, aiming to concentrate on his apple rather than what had just happened. And his apple was far less upsetting. But he still wanted to say something. Something for the red head to think about after he'd gone downstairs…oh, right…dinner. Hn…he still wasn't dressed and he was certainly not asking for his partner's assistance for that. 'Next time you decide to let me kiss you, make sure your feelings are sorted out,' Deidara muttered quietly, his eyes still fixed on the apple in his hand.

Good. Good. Deidara wasn't pressing the matter anymore. The puppet wouldn't be forced to do something utterly drastic and harmful and he'd be able to ileave/i. Maybe a little space for a while would help him get things straightened out. Perhaps afterwards he'd be able to explain, answer, tell the blond iwhy/i he was wrong, and all of that. Perhaps.

Once his cheeks had been let go of, Sasori did take a step back, though didn't yet turn towards the door. He watched the blond shuffle back over to his bed, sitting and picking at that apple. Hmph. He was wooden, sure, but to his knowledge, at least, his partner hadn't had anything but that dumb apple all day. He wouldn't iadmit/i to actually being worried about relations between him and the sculptor... But maybe he could patch things up a itiny/i bit, later. The puppet knew how he was going to try, too.

Only then did he turn to leave, though before he did he heard the blond speak. Albeit quietly. He cast one more inearly/i sorry glance over at the blond, who appeared more interested in the apple, before finally opening the door and leaving, closing it quietly behind him. Once out, he paused, mind replaying the last words said to him before he departed. He hadn't exactly liked the way that damn word, 'feelings', had been said. Did the blond not believe he had any...? Or... What? Hmph. Maybe he really ididn't/i. Maybe they were as fake as his body was.

He shook his head, regaining his apathetic composure before starting on his way downstairs to the kitchen. Hopefully Hidan had recovered from his second trip down into the basement... Or the next pair tomorrow were going to have double the dishes to wash after breakfast.

Once Sasori had exited the room, Deidara let himself fall back onto his bed, his thumb still digging all the brown bits off the only food he'd had all day. Hn…it couldn't really be that hard to get himself dressed with his arm in the condition it was in, could it? Putting on his t-shirt hadn't proven to be too difficult…though then again, his wrist could well have been in much worse condition than before. Nah, he'd leave it and eat more tomorrow and just ration the apple. Glaargh.. However…his stomach seemed to have a different opinion and disliked the decision. The blond pulled his shirt up slightly and prodded his tummy, scowling it. 'Shut up, un,' he muttered. Glaaaaaaaaaargh Of course, the sculptor was well aware that he was famished. But the laziness that had been displayed earlier had taken its toll and he now just couldn't be bothered to go get dressed. And who was the winner? His stomach. Groggily, he stood up and wandered over to the cupboard, digging out some decent clothes. Hn…now thinking about it, putting on the trousers would be harder that replacing shirts. Nevermind. He was hungry and wasn't planning on going downstairs looking like a complete idiot. Once he'd finished getting dressed, which easily took ten minutes he quickly scurried out of the door and downstairs, praying he hadn't in effect missed dinner.

In those ten-plus minutes, Sasori had made it to the kitchen, making a bee-line to the fridge, opening it and staring blankly in at it's contents. Hmmph. What to cook, what to cook... Wait. Why was he looking in the ifridge/i for something to icook/i? It didn't look like there was any leftovers from... Whenever, eggs were for breakfast, hmm...

Impatiently, the puppeteer closed the stupid thing once again, stepping over to the cupboards and opening them, instead. Canned corn, canned fish, a jar of eyeballs and tongues, canned soup... No, no, idefinately/i no, and... No. Wait. Yes. That's what he'd make. Soup. But not that canned crap.

A plan now in mind, he closed the cupboard and returned to the fridge, looking over it's contents yet again. Three red peppers, four carrots, two tomatoes... He grabbed what he needed, putting them on the counter before returning to the cupboard. Canned fish, some rice... He added those to his little pile before getting a pot out, filling it with water at the sink and setting it at the stove on high. Quickly he grabbed a can opener from one of the drawers, as well as a knife, setting the knife on the counter and grabbing the canned fish, opening it and pouring everything - juice and all - into the pot. Discarding the can, and setting the can opener back in the drawer, he took the knife and the peppers, cutting them up and adding them to the water. He did the same with the tomatoes, and the carrots - though he peeled those first, of course.

He dropped the knife in the sink, throwing in the rice before pausing... Then grabbing the pepper-shaker and adding some of ithat/i in, too. What? So it would be a ilittle/i spicy. iHe/i didn't need to eat it, so... That was something he couldn't care less about. Plus, he wasn't anticipating Deidara to come down for dinner - he hadn't came for either of the other daily meals, after all.

Turning the stove off, he put the pot's cover on before crossing his arms and looking over at the clock. Eh... Shouldn't take long for it to be done...

If Deidara's sense of smell hadn't been too corrupted from sitting out on the rainy roof, he was now certain that Sasori had begun making dinner. And if he could smell the evening meal, he was sure that there was the scent of carrot floating through the air. Urgh…carrots…ah, fuck it. He was hungry and would even eat his hand if he had to. Well...maybe not his hand...but something stupid like that. A horse maybe? Cautiously, the blond peeped his head around the kitchen door. Yep. He had been right. There was Sasori and the pot resting on the stove. And whatever was cooking smelt really good. Heck, the carroty smell had been completely drowned out by…the other things in there. Fish? He moved further into the room, trying not to take any notice of the puppet and inspected the cooking food. Ah! Soup. Even the sight of it made his stomach rumble again. He looked over at his partner warily, pointing to the soup. 'Is it nearly done, un?' he asked, trying to restrain himself from picking up and downing the whole thing in one gulp. Restraining because one, it would hurt like hell. Two, Sasori would probably end up, once again, getting pretty pissed off. Three, an angry mob of S-rank criminal nins would come after him in a mad rampage for eating all their food. The blond wasn't really prepared to patch things up just yet, but it couldn't hurt to just be polite could it? 'It smells really good, un,' he added, grinning. Staring at the cooking soup was proving to be too painful for his stomach, so instead he moved to sit down on the table, his bad arm resting on his lap, whilst his better was used to balance himself. Hn…if the red head had cooked dinner, did that mean Deidara had to wash up? Wait…hadn't he cooked lunch too? And there weren't any dirty dishes around either. Better keep the questions to minimum this time round. 'Am I still washing up?' He hoped not. Unless his partner was desperate to see fragments of broken plates scattered all over the kitchen floor.

It was irritating how slow time crawled when one was staring a clock in the face. The puppet's half-lidded eyes partially glared at the damn thing, willing it to go ifaster/i. The sooner dinner was over, the sooner-

Foot-steps. The ghost of a frown showed as Sasori peered over at... Deidara. Ha, the hungry little brat had actually come down. The puppet was slightly miffed seemed only to take notice of the food, turning his attention back to the little staring contest he had been having with the time-peice. One second, two second, three second - question! iTwitch/i. His counting had been interrupted. "Eight more minutes," he muttered, glaring over at the pot. Ah, well... He had to wait until everyone was finished eating, anyway, if he wanted to use Hidan again. If he came.

He seemed to ignore the remark about the cooking soup smelling good, though he inwardly smirked. Peppers tended not to have a scent... Er, if he remembered correctly, anyway. So, the little sculptor couldn't smell the hidden, hot danger, could he? Good - that meant no one else would be able to! Hm... Perhaps it would be good to leave before dinner began. Or advise everyone to get big glasses of water before digging in...

... Nah. He wanted to watch their suffering. Assuming he made it spicy enough for that.

The red-head 'hn'd quietly, digging out a large wooden spoon and a ladle from one of the drawers. He placed the ladle to one side, wandering back over to the pot and momentarily taking the lid off in order to stir it's contents. Ah, another question from the blond... The puppet breifly considered saying 'yes', but shook his head ever-so-slightly instead. "No. Hidan volunteered." ... Albeit quite unwillingly. Placing the top back on the pot, the spoon-weilding puppeteer looked back over to the clock. Five minutes left.

Hmmn. Considering the brat had actually came for dinner, his little patch-things-up-minisculy plan had been foiled. No matter, he'd either think of a new one - or just forget about it. More than likely the latter, knowing him.

Urgh…eight minutes was way too long. Deidara wanted his dinner now. He also began staring at the clock along with his partner. And only then did it suddenly dawn on him how long a minute actually was. Damn…if only there was a jutsu to make time go faster. Although sadly there wasn't...well there could've been one, but not to his knowledge. How frustrating. The blond watched as his partner wandered to the pot bearing a spoon to stir the contents of the pot. He tilted his head to the side slightly, wondering if he was going to taste it. He already knew the puppet had lost two of his five senses. He obviously could hear and see. But he'd never witnessed him eating before…maybe he still had a sense of taste… He grinned slightly when Sasori shook his head in response to his pervious question. Yes! That meant once the sculptor had finished eating he could forget about cleaning up and scurry back upstairs and do nothing all over again! Brilliant! But wait…why had Hidan of all people offered to help? Especially after the events that had taken place the day before in the basement. Although…knowing the red head, he'd forced the Jashinist to help him. So maybe the reply should've been something along the lines of "I'm going to make Hidan do it." 'Okay, un,' he sniggered. Well, that explained the whole disappearing dishes thing. The Jashinist must have done the washing up in the morning too. Now to stare at the clock again, whilst trying to ignore his ever rumbling stomach. Just five more minutes. Hopefully he'd be able to have seconds. Though he made no move to ask if he could. Asking too many questions might result in something nasty. Speaking of nasty, Deidara's oh, so important trip to the doctor's seemed to have been pushed aside. That would be the first thing he'd do tomorrow morning. And he was flying whether it put unbearable strain on his wrist or not. It was probably still muddy outside from the rain. And there wasn't a way in hell he was buying never leg warmers.

Well, given that it was ialmost/i done cooking, and he had nothing else to do but wait... Sasori placed the spoon down on the counter, wandering over to a cupboard and rooting through it before withdrawing six bowls and sitting them on the counter, too. Hmm... Spoons? Bah! If anyone wanted spoons they could get them theirselves.

He smirked when he heard the snigger - apparently the obvious lie in his previous statement about the Jashinist had been spotted. The immortal only helped when something gave him the chance of potential converts, sacrifices to his dumb little god, or some other religious-based thing. Doing the dishes was an activity that was idefinately/i not spreading the 'good' word of that Jashin thing. Neither was leaping down the stairs like a total dunce.

"Shut the hell up and stop being such a pussy, Hidan," came the exhasperated voice of Kakuzu, dragging the mentioned religious fanatic along behind him into the kitchen mere seconds later by his ear. Ignoring the two already in the room, the banker proceeded to shove his fellow immortal into one of the chairs in the kitchen, giving him a glare that could top all glares when he moved to get back up and flee the room.

Not wanted to lose his head or wind up being added to whatever it was that was cooking, Hidan wisely stayed seated, though not without complaint. "But, seriously, Kakuzu! Bitchtitless over there-" he waved a frantic hand in the direction of the puppet, who was watching the two with carefully concealed amusement. "-will make me wash the goddamn dishes again! And-"

- And then he was cut off by Kakuzu. "I don't see how that's a iproblem/i, idiot. Shut u-"

Who was interrupted by Hidan. "-let me fucking finish! The heathen made me jump down the fucking istairs/i last time! I still fucking hurt in places!"

... The banker merely stared at his partner, shrugging and taking his seat beside the other immortal - if only to make sure he didn't leave. "I don't see how ithat/i's a problem, either."

The last statement earned Kakuzu a rather sulky glare as Hidan crossed his arms over his chest and slumped in his seat. The immortal was, obviously, dreading dish-washing time.

Clenching his jaw tightly so as not to chuckle, the red-head looked back over to the clock. Two minutes left.

Hm…Sasori had forgotten to get spoons out. Unless he was planning on making everyone eat the soup using their fingers or something. Not exactly the most hygienic way to eat food. Deidara slid off the table, and moved over to the cutlery drawer. Hey, it was his turn to help out making dinner seeing as he couldn't even cook rice without burning it. He could at least make an effort and not be completely useless. Picking up a few spoons from the drawer only used one hand, so it was something that could easily be done. So, he picked up six spoons, not even bothering to check the sizes and patterns and whatnot and placed them on the table in front of the empty spaces, making sure that Tobi's favourite spoon was at the other end of the table as his own selected spot. He was about to once again claim his sitting on the table position when the two immortals entered the room…well…Hidan was being dragged along. Even before the blond heard the reason, he had already guessed the reason why the Jashinist was being dragged in. Something about reluctantly having to wash up, perhaps? Yep…he had been right. Instead of sitting back on the table, the sculptor moved over to the counter and leant against that, giggling away at the swearing and bickering immortals. Damn…he'd also been right about those pair arguing more than himself and the puppeteer. Even though, cat fights between the two artists usually turned out to be a lot more vicious. Though a wee bit less frequent. And not as amusing. His staring contest with the clock was brought to a abrupt end when Tobi bounded into the room yelling something aberrant about dinner. Fortunately it seemed like Deidara's little spoon trick had worked. The masked Uchiha made a beeline for the place where his favourite spoon had been placed. Excellent.

Hidan, hearing Deidara's giggles, turned in his seat - as he was pretty much being kept down by Kakuzu, who, thinking ahead, had sort-of strapped the Jashinist to the chair using a few of his pretty little black threads - and scowled at him. The immortal growled several idle threats under his breath, as well as insults, muttering one in particular fairly loud - "Fuckin' fairy." He inwardly cringed when Tobi made an appearance, immediately turning back around as memories of the whole basement escapade made a re-appearance. Well, the ifirst/i basement escapade.

One. Minute. Left. iFinally/i. Sasori glanced over at the religious fanatic when he heard the word 'fairy', left eye twitching slightly due to it having slight relations to that whole toothfairy thing. He, in turn, rolled his eyes when the masked fool bounded into the room - ha, right on time... Whatever. One minute wouldn't matter. He snatched up the ladle, taking the top off of the pot, setting it on the counter and grabbing a bowl. He ladled some soup into the bowl - carefully trying to avoid getting any - or imany/i - pepper chunks - in it, before placing it back onto the counter and sliding it over towards his partner, otherwise ignoring the blond.

He took a moment to peer over at the table - hm, it seemed the fish and the weasel were either late or not coming, and Zetsu was probably out hunting down his own dinner like the cannibal-plant that he was... Oh, well. All the more peppers for Hidan and Tobi. Kakuzu wasn't one of his 'targets' considering the banker was all right. Plus, while he could keep the other two in check ieasily/i, the banker had those threads. The sculptor wasn't one of his 'targets', either, if only because the brat was probably starving and having him choke on overly hot peppers - while it would be morbidly amusing to watch - would be mean.

Not like he cared, or anything.

And so, the puppet, creepy little smile setting on his face, began to get the other three bowls filled and ready to serve.

The muttered idle threats and insults coming from the Jashinist were not exactly making Deidara find the scene any less amusing. To contrast, he was finding it even more funny. Though when he heard a loud mutter of "fuckin' fairy," in response he only laughed louder. 'Aren't you the fairy, un?' he asked, trying to correct Hidan. And of course, all this talk of fairies set Tobi off on another 400-words-a-second ramble about his visit from the tooth fairy the previous night. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the money that had beren left under his pillow by the blond. 'See? She brought me money!' he announced. Heh...she. It was probably one of the only phrases that could be made out from his very fast talking. 'I still dunno what to buy with it though.' Though the generous "tooth fairy" had only given the fool enough to buy a couple of sweets from the village. Although the sculptor was still aspiring to get his money back. 'You could give it to me. Then it wouldn't completely wasted, un,' he snorted. The money was rightfully his anyway. Even though it had the Uchiha's grubby fingerprints all over it…hm…he'd have to spend it extra quick then, wouldn't he? Yes…only one minute left. And it had also occurred to him that Itachi and Kisame had failed to show up. Not as if it bothered him. The further that snotty kid was the better. Deidara was still pretty miffed at him for leaking the contents of his private phone call to Sasori, when he had told him specifically not to. Nevermind. If those two didn't come in for dinner than that meant the he was most definitely having seconds. He watched with eager and hungry eyes as the puppeteer began ladling the soup into a bowl. Finally. As the bowl was passed to him and he picked it up. He was extremely grateful that he had been given his dinner first. Thanking his partner and made his way over to the table and sat down. Chow time!

The puppeteer twitched, nearly spilling soup on the floor when Tobi mentioned the toothfairy, mentally noting that the masked idiot wasn't itoo/i off the mark when he assumed the fairy was a chick. 'Cause he sort-of did. He coughed in a highly fake fashion, all things considered, to hide a snicker before he continued with what he had been doing.

The immortal religious freak twitched. How the hell was ihe/i the fairy!? ... Oh, waitaminute... He was about to make some witty, snappy comeback, but stopped when a bowl was abruptly placed in front of him. Fuck it, arguing with that twit could iwait/i - he wanted to finish and flee first! With that in mind, Hidan ignored the spoon, picking up the rather hot bowl and bringing it up to his mouth in order to simply drink it.

Unfourtunately... That wasn't wise. Just mere seconds after the first bits of soup - and peppers - entered his mouth, the poor guy made a strangled noise that sounded suspiciously like a curse. His mouth snapped shut, his face turned red, and after messily slamming the bowl back down onto the table, he made a mad dash for the sink in order to save what taste-buds had survived the hot-tasting torture. Or... He iwould/i have done that. If he hadn't been strapped down and thusly forced to endure what felt like hell erupting in his mouth.

... Meanwhile, Kakuzu had been calmly sipping away at the contents of the bowl that had seconds ago been placed infront of him - politely. With a spoon. He peered over at his panicky, alarmed-looking partner, obviously annoyed. "It's not ithat/i hot, you moron." Ha! If only he knew.

Sasori finished serving dinner after placing the last bowl - Tobi's - on the table. The puppet then retreated back over to the counter, where he turned to observe the Jashinist's panicky 'oh-my-fucking-god-give-me-water-NOW'-like movements for a moment in mildly sadistic glee, before somewhat turning his attention over to Deidara. If only to see if he had succeeded in avoiding getting too many peppers into the blond's bowl.

Thankfully, before Deidara could perform a similar action to Hidan, he was able to witness the strangled noises that followed. And thank goodness he did, otherwise he would've probably suffered the same fate as the Jashinist himself. Well…at least he wasn't strapped down. He put the bowl down and stood up, making his way over to the cupboard and retrieving a glass and then filling it with water. Hm…should he get one for the chocking and suffering Hidan? Nah. It was too fucking funny to be ended by a random act of kindness. And with that, the blond sat back down. Of course, the oblivious Tobi had also eaten a little too much of the soup too quickly, without even noticing what had happened to poor Hidan. Less is more, right? He was then the second person to run to the…sink? Ah, yes…the sink…to drain all the water out of the tap and swallow as much as possible. Until it all spurted out of both his mouth and nose. And seeing that almost made the sculptor spurt out of his own nose. Sadly it seemed that the only way he was going to eat the soup without burning himself or choking he would have to eat it at a snail's pace. Not exactly the best set up in the world, but it worked and reduced the damage. What the hell had Sasori put in there? Chillis? …wait no…peppers. He daren't steal an annoyed glance at the puppet. It wasn't as if it bothered Deidara. And he didn't want to complain and risk having his food taken away from him. He was hungry. The thing that bothered him the most however was that he had to eat it so slowly. But the soup did get eaten nonetheless.

The red-head kept his gaze directed at the table, sort-of, though watched Deidara as he got himself a glass of water out of the corner of his eyes. Ha, smart brat. Better safe than sorry and all that, right? He then returned his attention to the ever-so-slowly calming Jashinist, crossing his arms over his chest and... Waited.

Until Tobi apparently shared at least half the fate of the poor moron-immortal. Sasori smirked as the masked fool ran to the sink, seeming to try to drain whatever water source fed into the tap before... Pretty much resembling one of those weird-ass fountains where the water is spraying out of the figure's mouth. In this case, mouth iand/i nose, at a higher velocity. Well, it was fun to watch.

Kakuzu, meanwhile, growing more steadily annoyed at his partner's struggling, even if it iwas/i a little calmer, sighed irritably. Once he finished his own meal, several little black threads slithered out from his body to wrap around Hidan's bowl. While the Jashinist was an idiot, his stupidity was nowhere near Tobi-level; he kept his mouth shut tightly.

Though he couldn't help but open it in a gasp when the threads keeping him to the chair tightened. A lot. And that was when the bowl was shoved to his lips, the contents forcibly being poured down his throat.

Even before it was all gone, Hidan was as red as a beet, and if one looked carefully... They could probably see steam coming from his friggin' ears. Hell, he was too hot to even struggle - he could only sit still as a statue, gaping out at nothing while it felt like his very insides were being melted into useless, mushy goo.

While the puppeteer was somewhat happy that the blond had eaten the spicy concoction without complaint, it was even more happy-inducing to see the religious freak go into some sort of meltdown.

Eating so slowly was proving to be painful for Deidara, so instead he was blocking any air from entering his nose and travelling down to his lungs, knowing that it would numb the taste a little. The soup was now significantly less spicy. But it also meant that it was much less tasty. Hn…nevermind. It still filled his stomach up. And at least his mouth wasn't burning and his skin hadn't turned pink like Hidan's had. But watching him suffer from across the table and what seemed to be a safe distance was hilarious. And seeing him being fed by his partner was even more hilarious. Though any more laughing would probably result in him being beaten to a pulp by the oh, so lovely Jashinist…maybe he'd actually try to sacrifice him and it wasn't just an empty threat like all those other times. After he had finished his bowl, the sculptor sat there, glancing over at Tobi, who was now trying to balance the kiddy spoon on his nose. Should he have seconds? It wasn't as if he was incapable of going back downstairs to get more food later on seeing as he'd finally got dressed. But it was unlikely that there was any other decent food left. The supermarket trip was tomorrow so that could be a chance to nick enough food to keep himself from going hungry. A slightly good thing about have a partner who doesn't need to eat; they probably won't steal your food. Unless they plan on giving it to someone. The blond needed more cereal too…hm…if the trip was going to end up being early in the morning, then his trip to the doctors would be pushed back even further. Well, if that was the case, he'd just have to get up extra early to go into the village. Coming to a conclusion that he didn't want anymore of Sasori's spicy soup, he allowed the air to travel through his nose and took a quick sip of water. He then got up and placed his bowl and spoon in the sink. 'Thanks for dinner, danna,' he called, scurrying out of the room, extremely grateful for not having to do the washing up. Perhaps that was one of the only good things about having a damaged wrist.

Once it was all gone, the black threads deposited Hidan's bowl on the table directly infront of him, where it had been before. Kakuzu spared his partner an amused look before finally loosening and withdrawing the threads which held him down.

As his first act of freedom, Hidan keeled over rather overdramatically, landing on the floor with a resounding thump.

Sasori meanwhile watched Deidara as the blond finished up, placing his dishes in the sink. The puppet nodded just slightly at his words before turning his attention elsewhere - mainly, his temporary dishwasher. "I hope you don't mind if I borrow Hidan again, Kakuzu," he mumbled, attaching a few chakra strings to the immortal in washing question lest he recover and flee. Hey, he didn't need to be concious to wash up.

"Hm." Kakuzu stared down at his dumbass comrade before shrugging. "Go ahead, but it'll cost you seven houndred yen." ... If Hidan could feel his tongue, he'd probably curse the banker out and say something about pimps or something and then go on about how it was all against his religion...

Thank whatever god was in existance that the Jashinist was even pretty damn sure his tongue had melted off.

The red-head frowned, then shrugged. He'd be able to get that, sure. After all, he'd been buying stuff with the banker's credit and all that and had his money stashed away in that closet somewhere. "... Fine. I'll pay you tomorrow."

Kakuzu nodded and stood, pushing his chair in before leaving the kitchen.


	15. Chapter 15

Once it was all gone, the black threads deposited Hidan's bowl on the table directly infront of him, where it had been before. Kakuzu spared his partner an amused look before finally loosening and withdrawing the threads which held him down. 

As his first act of freedom, Hidan keeled over rather overdramatically, landing on the floor with a resounding thump.

Sasori meanwhile watched Deidara as the blond finished up, placing his dishes in the sink. The puppet nodded just slightly at his words before turning his attention elsewhere - mainly, his temporary dishwasher. "I hope you don't mind if I borrow Hidan again, Kakuzu," he mumbled, attaching a few chakra strings to the immortal in washing question lest he recover and flee. Hey, he didn't need to be concious to wash up.

"Hm." Kakuzu stared down at his dumbass comrade before shrugging. "Go ahead, but it'll cost you seven houndred yen." ... If Hidan could feel his tongue, he'd probably curse the banker out and say something about pimps or something and then go on about how it was all against his religion...

Thank whatever god was in existance that the Jashinist was even pretty damn sure his tongue had melted off.

The red-head frowned, then shrugged. He'd be able to get that, sure. After all, he'd been buying stuff with the banker's credit and all that and had his money stashed away in that closet somewhere. "... Fine. I'll pay you tomorrow."

Kakuzu nodded and stood, pushing his chair in before leaving the kitchen.

After forcing Hidan onto his feet, the puppeteer sent a short, bored look over at Tobi. "Hurry up or you'll be doing your own dishes." Seconds later, he returned to controlling the Jashinist, the white haired man unwillingly collecting both his and the banker's dishes and dumping them into the sink.

Hearing the puppet's order of telling him to hurry up eating, Tobi's spoon dropped off his nose and landed on the table with a clatter. Argh, his attempt of breaking his spoon balancing record had been interrupted. Feh, he'd have to try again later. He certainly didn't want to end up washing his own bowl. Sure, he lived there but he wasn't on the list to do cook or washing up every now and again. He just took the food. Obidiently, the Uchiha picked up his spoon and carried on eating his food. It had cooled down now so it didn't carry as much strain on his taste buds. Once he had finished he dumped his bowl in the sink and headed out of the room. Only to reappear at the door seconds later to thank Sasori for dinner.

Meanwhile, Deidara was upstairs, snapping his little clay note in two and chucking it back into his box. What a dumb idea that had been. He then went digging around in his top drawer for something remotely sweet to chew on and get the spicy taste out of his mouth. When he stumbled across a few boiled sweets lying at the bottom, he picked a few up. Hm…they didn't look too old. Sure one of them was growing mould it didn't stop him from popping it into his mouth. Now…what to do. The blond glanced around the room before his eyes locked on a very lonely looking plushie that was Scorpling. He grinned slightly, padding over to his bed where the bird lay and sat down, picking it up and hugging it. Hm…maybe it would be a good idea to did out some thread and a sewing skit from that drawer. He could stick a thread into the bird's head or something so he could tie it to himself and there'd be less of a chance of it getting lost whilst walking around with it. Although, it wasn't as if the sculptor was going to lose the toy any time soon. He hardly let the thing out of his sight in the first place. He sighed, falling back onto the bed, still clutching the toy tightly, his eyelids fluttering closed. No, he wasn't planning on sleeping. It just seemed like sucking on that sweet would be easier with his eyes closed, that's all.

While Tobi finished up, the puppeteer impatiently waited, mildly amusing himself by making Hidan do stupid little things like poking himself in the eye. Which would usually earn quite a few curses from the Jashinist, but the poor immortal's tongue was still not in working order.

Once the fool of an Uchiha was finished and had put his dish in the sink, Sasori immediately put the religious fanatic to work, much like he had done last time. He irritably waved the masked fool away when he made a reappearance in order to thank him for dinner - nearly causing his temporary meat puppet to drop a dish in the process - before returning his full attention to the task at hand.

Hmm... Now, what should he do to momentarily incapacitate the idiot fanatic, this time? Make him jump down the stairs again? Or maybe make him jump out of the window... Yes. A devious little grin crept into the puppet's features while he stared over the Jashinist's shoulder to make sure none of the dishes were dropped or anything.

They were done quickly; there were only four bowls and whatnot, after all. The pot was shoved into the fridge as leftovers before they began, unwilling puppet and evil little master, their trek to and up the stairs.

Hidan was inwardly praying to Jashin-sama that he wouldn't be forced to make a running leap down ithese/i stairs, too. Poor little unaware religious freak. Then again, running and jumping out of an open window would probably hurt a hell of a lot less, given that he wouldn't wind up going over as many painful bumps along the way. Not that he really minded the pain, but falling down the stairs was so damn embarassing. Leaping off of them like a fucking idiot who thought he could fly was iworse/i...

Of course, he felt rather relieved when they ascended and left the stairs once they were up them, though he was morbidly curious as to what his fate was going to be.

Deidara was still preoccupied with sucking on his sweet, but his mind was elsewhere. He really didn't want to have another "talk." Even though he was expecting it. Trying to keep his mind off the events that had happened a while ago was proving to be quite difficult. And it was getting him upset all over again. Why hadn't he just stayed put and not gotten up to ask Sasori not to leave? Then it wouldn't've happened and he wouldn't've ended up getting so confused and upset. Urgh, why did things have to be so difficult? He was obviously too busy thinking about that to notice he had swallowed his sweet. The blond's blue eyes widened and he sat up, whacking his chest and coughing repeatedly, trying to dislodge the sweet from his throat. After a few attempts the deadly sweet flew from his mouth and skidded away under the puppet's bed. He quickly got up and exited the bedroom to go to the bathroom. Damn, that had been so scary. Almost as scary as those awful dreams. But this time it was real. The sculptor picked up a glass that was lying on the sink and filled it up with water, downing it all in one, trying to get rid of that painful sensation in his throat. It had been painful enough to make his eyes water slightly. Once he had finished a few more glasses of water he went back to his room. And was quite disappointed to see that his partner still hadn't shown up. Sure, he was still mad at him, but that didn't erase the fact that he liked being around him. As long as he didn't get the "talk" it would be fine. Things could go back to the way the had been to begin with. A few arguments here and there. Tiny little discussions. Although, inwardly, Deidara knew that things had changed dramatically and were never going to change back.

The Jashinist and the puppeteer immediately came to a stop when they reached one of the larger upstairs windows. Hidan finally caught on as to what his fate was going to be once he was forced to walk over and iopen/i said window as much as it could be opened before taking several large steps back. Shit, this wasn't going to be fun...

As like the stairs episode, the immortal ran straight for the open window, ducking and diving out of it - and only then were the shakra strings cancelled and the poor religious fanatic freed. Limbs flailing every which way, he found himself on an inevitable collision course with the ground below and iWHUMPH/i. Fucking hell, it felt like his ribs were broken and... He was damn sure his neck wasn't supposed to bend that way... "FUCKING OW!"

Calmly, Sasori stepped over to the window and closed it, not sparing a second glance at the fanatic that had just gone dirt-diving. He turned, heading towards his and Deidara's room, instead, albeit at a slow-as-hell pace. Hmph - should he bring up ithat/i little moment, or just let it alone? The puppet crossed his arms over his chest, head down, watching the floor as he moved along. Maybe he should point out the reasons why he didn't 'feel' comfortable getting into... That? The aging stuff and so on.

He eventually came to the room's door, pausing for a moment, pretty much just stalling. Screw it, he'd say nothing - absolutely nothing - unless the blond spoke first. That plan in mind, he entered the room as quietly and quickly as possible, giving his partner a short little look before making his way over to his little workstation. He'd been ignoring his precious little puppets, and he still hadn't gotten started on that fairy one.

The shout from outside that, oddly enough, sounded an awful lot like the Jashinist. But outside? Hadn't he been doing the washing up? Well…whatever had happened, poor Hidan sounded like he was in pain. Then there were footsteps. If Hidan had managed to find his way outside then those footsteps must've belonged to Sasori. Deidara made his way back to his bed and sat down, watching and waiting to see if he had been right. And sure enough, in walked the puppeteer. He blinked as he gave him a short glance and then headed over to his workstation. That look hurt. It kind of made his heart beat quicker for one second and then slow down again almost instantaneously. And that hurt too. Almost like a sharp stabbing pain in his chest. Hm…that couldn't be healthy. He looked over at him sadly, almost longingly. The blond desperately wanted the puppeteer's attention. But he really didn't want to talk about that. Just…normal talking. Heh, as if normal conversation even existed between the two artists. He sighed. Might as well go for it. Sitting up, his plush lying in his arms, he called out "Danna" quietly. Now how was he going to word this? How was he going to be able to do it without ending up being yelled at or something along those lines? As the silence dragged on from the sculptor's lack of speech, the tension was rising dramatically. Hadn't this scene been repeated? It felt that way. He opened his mouth, praying for something that made sense to come out, but there was nothing. Okay. Think. Something that could give the red head an option to back out if he felt uncomfortable. Something not too needy. More moments passed until he finally came up with something decent. 'Can we talk, un,' he asked reluctantly.

The puppet sat cross-legged in his little corner of the room, searching the area for that dumb little fairytale book. Where the hell had he put that thing, again? He could've sworn it was... Ah, there. He snatched it from it's resting spot, flipping through it slowly, examining each and every page for that one picture he'd seen earlier. No, no, not that one, no... He nodded slightly when he finally found it, about to go to work, though he stopped when he heard the blond quietly call out his substitution for the red-head's name.

Sasori looked up, but not over, placing the book down infront of him and waiting for Deidara to continue with whatever he was going to say. And waiting. And... Eugh, whatever. He looked back down to the book - or more specifically, the picture - mentally making up a material's list. What would he need? Of course he'd need to make the torso and all those usual things, but given the shape of the fairy's body in the picture, it was going to be something 'new'. The form was going to be fairly feminine, unless he went with a male fairy...

He breifly considered making it look like the blond had during that whole fairy thing, but dismissed that idea - it would just be... Creepy.

Red eyes blinked slowly when said blond ifinally/i finished what he had been going to say. Hmph - when had he starting iasking/i if they could talk? Still, he kept his eyes to the book, though his little mental process of figuring out what would need what had paused to focus on speaking. "... About what?" He inquired, rather tonelessly. It almost didn't even sound like a question.

Tch. Sasori seemed far too indulged in his book for Deidara's liking. It was as if he was enjoying the tales that lay within. Of course, it didn't occur to him that the puppet was coming up with ideas for his fairy puppet. He just thought he was reading it out of boredom. Or pleasure? One of the two. What was so great about that book anyway? It wasn't as if the stories in there were unknown. Urgh, as the tension rose, the blond's patience lessened. When he received the reply of "About what?" the blond almost felt like yelling at him for being so clueless. He managed to restrain himself from shouting out something like "You know damn well what" or "Stop being so stupid and put that fucking book down." Instead he just shuffled slightly in uneasiness, his nails digging into the plush bird as his grip on it tightened. Heck, any more force and he might've even ripped through the poor thing. His nails were sharp. The blue eyes averted their gaze and landed on the small trail of sugary saliva that travelled under the puppeteer's bed, leading to that deadly sweet that had almost made the blond choke to death. Funny…an s-rank criminal nin' being killed by a silly little boiled sweet. 'About that, un,' he mumbled shyly. If the red head did agree then this was going to be one hell of a Q&A session. There were so many questions buzzing around the sculptor's mind, begging to be answered. Although…maybe he had asked enough questions for one day. Perhaps he should just let it lie and settle before even contemplating about discussing everything. Well…it was too late now…he'd already asked. And he didn't even know which answer he wanted the most. A yes or a no. Dammit, why was everything so confusing?

While he waited for the blond's response, the red-head itried/i to refocus on the little mental list. There'd wind up being iat least/i fourty-two seperate parts - or more, if he miscounted. Yes, yes, he was sure he had miscounted; some of those 'seperate' parts would be made up of smaller things... Then there were the secret compartments for several hidden weapons, the wings; something he'd have to work on, as he hadn't tried them before, and... He still had to figure out how he was going to do those.

He couldn't really concentrate well enough with Deidara near-by, however, especially when trying to listen and make sure he didn't miss whatever he was going to say next. Thankfully, he ididn't/i miss it.

So, he wanted to talk about ithat/i, hm? Sasori was damn tempted to try annoying the hell out of his partner, but even though he couldn't exactly ifeel/i, he could sort-of sense the tension in the air. Playing dumb probably wouldn't be wise. He didn't want an exact repeat of any earlier events, so he kept quiet for a moment, thinking.

Perhaps he should stay quiet indefinately? That way, the conversation couldn't go anywhere. But, then again, the puppet had a few things to say about ithat/i, too... Might as well see what the brat wanted to bring up. What would be the harm? ... Well, okay, that wasn't the best mental-question to ask, as he could list off several little annoying things that talking iand/i action had brought about lately. Eugh... Enough, if he got lost in a mental rant he probably wouldn't say ianything/i. "Fine." Again, toneless, almost cold - indifferent Maybe if he tried to revert back to 'emotionless prick mode' things wouldn't get totally... Screwy.

Whilst waiting for an answer Deidara was gradually beginning to regret asking Sasori to talk about that. Maybe he should've thought it all through first and then asked him. He had no fucking clue of how he was going to start the whole session off. He couldn't exactly just ask all the questions at 400 words an second like a bird who had just burst into song or something. Should he start with a little question? A fact? A big question? Gah, why couldn't the blond's mind just stick on something without wavering? However his thoughts were interrupted by the positive answer to the talk. He groaned inwardly, his stomach filling up with more butterflies as every second passed. Slowly, still holding onto Scorpling the bird plushie tightly, he stood up and wandered over to the puppeteer's little workstation. The sculptor sat on the floor about two feet away from his fellow artist. What to say, what to say. Think of something quick. Something…mature. Yes…maybe saying something mature would be a good idea. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard, his gaze locked on the ground. 'I love you,' he mumbled, his face going red.It was such annoying start on his part, but he carried on 'And I didn't like how you lead me on before, un,' he mumbled. Yes…perfect. Because that's what it had felt like. Sasori had let him kiss him and then pushed him away afterwards. 'So…I'd like it if you told me why you did that, un,' he finished, lifted his eyes to fix on the scarlet orbs that were his partner's eyes.

After he had given his answer, the puppet waited and listened, hearing not words, but the quiet creak of the bed and foot-steps as the blond approached and sat near-by. Why couldn't he have just stayed where he was? Sasori rolled his eyes before shuffling around in order to face Deidara, waiting for the blond to speak.

Ugh. Zetsu was a lucky bastard, what with that ability to travel through things... It would be a nice thing to have. These little conversations could thus be avoided by the red-head as if they were the plague - or... Maybe that wasn't be ibest/i wording, considering he didn't have to avoid any type of disease, all things considered. Hm... Ah! Avoid them as if they were ifire/i. Or termites. Or crazy lumberja--

Right, anyway... He listened to his partner speak - there was that infernal 'l'-word... Wait - what? He hadn't been leading the brat on at all! Had he? No, no, in his opinion, he ihadn't/i been. While outside, he remained expressionless throughout to the little inquiry, inside, he was frowning. And wanting to hit the sculptor over the head with something heavy. But, he restrained from doing so, and instead tried to think of an answer.

Though, after a moment, he gave up on that. If he pointed out he really hadn't been leading the blond on and all that, he'd probably just be called a goddamn liar again. Why not go along with that little label? Tell the brat was he was probably expecting to hear. He unblinkingly stared directly back into his partner's blue eyes as he spoke. "Why? You've been persistant lately, and I was curious as to how far you'd go if I tried to play along. But then you started asking stupid questions." The puppet mentally cringed, wondering if the blond would actually buy that. Eh, with his luck, the idiot probably would.

But then, since he was just a shell - a self-made construct, unfeeling, why would he care?

As he received the answer, his eyes narrowed. What the hell? In Deidara's mind that reply came across rather rude. Had he only done that out of curiosity. How disgusting. Completely and utterly disgusting. 'Curious?' he asked, cocking his head to one side and gritting his teeth. 'You let me kiss you because you were curious?' Sure, the second part came out much louder than the first part, but he didn't care. He wanted to show his anger. Even though it was much less intense as earlier. Hm…maybe he could twist the conversation around in an attempt to make Sasori feel guilty. Even though he "didn't have any feelings." Heck, he claimed to have feelings for the blond, surely he might be able to feel a petty human emotion such as guilt. He smirked. 'And you never thought about how I'd feel?' he asked, almost accusingly. He looked away, biting his lip, thinking over his comeback. He couldn't say anything that would purposely make lil puppet boy feel guilty, because he really wanted to open his eyes and make him see from his point of view. If that was even possible. He looked back. 'When you said you had feelings for me I saw that as a window of opportunity and took it. I actually thought you liked me, un,' he mumbled sadly and paused before adding an exclamation about the question asking. 'And I only asked questions because I was overly confused. You'd just told me you hated me and then you were kissing me. Things just didn't add up, un.' The sculptor slumped down slightly. Wow. That had really helped. Maybe it would be wise to keep up these little Q&A sessions. It helped get a lot of things off his chest. Surely keeping things like that pent up inside couldn't be healthy.

And he did buy it, apparently. Though the blond's reaction was thankfully not as bad as he had thought it was going to be. Expressionless as ever, Sasori watched his partner gripe over the whole 'curious' thing, but decided not to comment. Yes, to some point, he had to admit, he actually ihad/i been a little curious... So maybe it wasn't a itotal/i lie.

Though he didn't verbally comment, he did nod - albeit once, and just slightly. Why not, since some of his lie did turn out to be a little truth, affirm it?

But he almost let himself frown at Deidara's next question. The answer was an obvious 'no', although he didn't feel like actually speaking it. He ihadn't/i thought of how the blond would feel. His eyes half-closed as he mused over that; he hadn't actually had a reason to take another being's... Feelings into account before, actually. Then again, he'd never found himself in such an awkward situation when it came to relationships with other people. Afterall, with puppets, it was a rather one-sided thing...

The red-head continued to listen as the blond continued to speak. He closed his eyes when the sculptor slumped down slightly once he had finished speaking. Eh, well, ihe/i was pretty much saying what was on his mind... So, the puppet figured, why not give it a go? It could be the only chance he'd get. Bowing his head slightly, he gave a little mock-sigh. "I will admit that I have never thought about how you'd feel. But..." Here went nothing, right? "I do have feelings for you. I do like you. And I do hate you." And he could very much understand the blond's confusion about that. He wanted to, however, also point out that it had been the blond kissing him, and not the other way around - though... He'd let that pass.

Deidara looked away slightly. That was exactly what was causing all the confusion. And Sasori wasn't exactly helping him to overcome it. If anything he was making him even more confused. He looked back at the puppet again, to reply him. 'How?' he asked at an almost inaudible low volume. 'How can you say that?' Sure he was beginning to ask lot of questions again, but this was a Q&A session. Surely, it was allowed. Even though it probably came across as slightly annoying. 'How can you like me, hate me and have feelings for me? That doesn't make any sense!' he said sharply, his voice almost quaking slightly. No. If he cried right there he'd lose control of the conversation again. He needed to keep control otherwise he'd end up doing something stupid and disastrous like last time. 'You're so confusing,' the sculptor whispered, his eyes screwed shut, trying to block out the tears from leaking out. His nails were digging into the plush again and it seemed like he had hit the same spot as before, his nail had almost broken through. Thankfully, he sensed this and moved to hold onto his leg instead. Sure it hurt, but he wasn't risking damaging a toy he'd only just received the day before. The blond's fist moved to slam onto the floor. 'It's not fair!' he shouted, his head bowing as his shoulders trembled. 'I want to hate you so much. But I just can't. It's not fucking fair, un!' The tears we falling down his cheeks and landing on his shirt, some on his thighs. He couldn't hold them in anymore. If he scrunched up his eyes anymore, he was sure they'd end up bleeding or something.

The puppet kept silent, almost looking like a statue more than anything, as he waited for then listened to the beginning of the blond's reaction to what he had put forth. How? iHow/i could he say that? Easy. He could say it because it was the truth, really... Albeit a confusing one - maybe for the sculptor - even though it made iperfect/i sense to the red-head. He was just intentionally leaving a bit out...

It really idid/i make sense. Sasori opened his eyes half way, though he kept them to the floor, internally cringing just slightly at his partner's sharp- though almost quaky- tone. However, on the outside, he remained... Blank, even as he looked up after the whispered words to see Deidara, eyes shut tightly - trying not to... Cry? The puppeteer frowned, resisting the damnable urge go close the approximately two-foot gap between him and his partner - which was probably a good thing.

He near-visibly twitched at the noise produced by the fist slamming into the floor, averting his eyes for a moment when the blond began to shout. So... He wanted to hate him - but couldn't? How hard was it to ihate/i someone? He once again turned his eyes to his fellow artist seconds later, looking him over - and noticing the tears. The proverbial dam had finally broke, it seemed... Ergh...

Letting that one minute human part of him guide him again, he crawled forward until the gap was only at about half a foot between them before settling back on his knees. "Deidara..." The puppet paused, hesitantly reaching for the blond's chin so that he would be able to pull his head up a bit. "It does make sense. I hate you because you've made me feel for you." Despite the situation, a small, creepy smile played across his lips. "If you want to hate me, hit me." Because then he'd really, really, ireally/i give the brat something to hate him for.

In that one minute that passed, Deidara's shoulders carried on trembling as more tears were making their way down his cheeks. He scowled himself. All this crying was showing weakness. Something someone like him was certainly not meant to show. And someone like him was definitely not meant to be weak. He wasn't after sympathy. He was just overcome by sadness. And the pain in his chest wasn't exactly helping either. Was Sasori even going to make a comeback? Was he going to say something just as confusing as the last thing he said? Then he heard him shuffle forwards. The blond looked up with his soaked eyes and watched as the puppet settled back on his knees. He let his chin be lifted up by him, restraining himself from slapping the wooden hand away again. He didn't want his sympathy. And then he said it again. And even the second time round it didn't make sense. "I hate you because you've made me feel for you." 'It doesn't make sense, idiot!' he yelled. 'It's impossible! You can't hate someone you feel for. You like someone you feel for, sure. But you don't hate them. What now? He was asking to be hit? Why? It wasn't as if he would feel it physically. Wait…could he? Was he just being masochistic? Either way, the sculptor raised his fist and slammed it down on the puppet shoulder. Hard. Before doing it again. And again. He was about to repeat the action when he stopped himself, his fist hovering just mere millimeters over the puppeteer's shoulder. He let it fall down onto the floor beside him again. 'There,' he muttered, looking away, not making any move to push the prosthetic hand away from his chin.

Deidara's loud outburst didn't surprise Sasori all that much. He remained impassive, giving the blond an almost impatient stare. How hard was it to understand? He felt for - liked - the brat. Yes. Unfourtunately. That was what made him hate the idiot - he didn't iwant/i to feel for him. He didn't want to feel, period. Hell, he wasn't even supposed to be iable/i to... Which gave the puppet another reason to hate the sculptor. Feelings weren't a sign of perfection, they were viewed by him as flaws. He had been perfect. Now he wasn't.

Though, he stayed silent. He didn't want to explain it. Instead, he let his earlier statements stand alone and waited.

Of course, he couldn't feel the hits. The little invitation, so to speak, was to see if the blond would actually do it - and apparently, he would. And did. Not only that, but it would help him inot/i feel guilty about what he was going to do.

... Not like he would in the first place.

But he hadn't been expecting his partner to hit that hard - he swore he heard something icrack/i the second time. Though the creepy little smile never left his face, and he stayed silent after the blond had finished. Just a mere six seconds after the muttered word, he removed his hand from the brat's chin and calmly stood, making his way over to his little closet. All the while testing his arm to see if the shoulder had been damaged - it had been; he couldn't lift the arm to a certain point... Hmph.

He stopped when he reached his destination, opening the door and rooting around inside for a short moment before grabbing a small jar labelled with nothing but a red strip of paper. He crouched, placing it on the floor just infront of him before digging around for a spare kunai - ah, there was one! After snatching it up, the puppeteer attatched a few chakra strings to Hiruko, if only to make said puppet open the jar of poison for him - at which point he carefully dipped the kunai in before turning slightly so he could see Deidara. "Brat." And then the poisoned weapon was thrown - not aimed at any vitals, of course, but it wasn't like that would matter iif/i it hit.

Deidara watched at Sasori stood up, his eyes following him. Had he got pissed off from the thumping? Well…whatever he'd done it was making the puppeteer go over to the closet. Hm…maybe he shouldn't've hit him in the first place…maybe it had been a test of trust or something…no…that wouldn't make sense. Bah, it was probably nothing. It also seemed like the Q&A session was finally over; the puppeteer was now dipping a kunai into a jar of…wait WHAT? The blue eyes widened to such an extent that they might've popped right out of the blond's skull. 'Danna? What are you doing?' he asked, worriedly, edging away slightly. Then the weapon was thrown. And he only did what his instincts told him to do; Hold his arm out and turn his head away in hope that it would miss any vital organs. Ow…He moved his arm slightly to see the kunai hanging out of the top section of his bad arm. Warily, he pulled it out and stared at his partner in shock. 'DANNA!' he screamed. 'WHAT'VE YOU-' He stopped, his eyes shutting tightly as he grabbed the wound, preventing the blood from oozing out. What was this feeling? The sculptor could feel his whole arm going numb. And the sensation was spreading at an alarming rate. He stood up shakily, stumbling off in the direction of the door. He needed to get some first aid or something. This wasn't good. As he reached for the doorknob his knees buckled he found himself landing on the floor in a heap. The numbness had spread to his legs and he couldn't lift them or even move them. Cerulean eyes looked frantically and pleadingly over at the living puppet. Should he ask for help? Even though he'd just thrown a poisoned weapon at him? Deidara was about to call the one word, when he found his grip loosen on the doorknob and fall to the floor like the rest of his body. It was as if he'd no control over his body. None whatsoever. It'd all be drained out of him. Just like a puppet. His vision was beginning to go blurry around the edges now and he was having trouble keep his eyes open. When they finally closed, his head flopped to the side, the his golden fringe covering his face and a small trail of blood was slowly making its way from his slightly parted lips.

Ha, he actually hit Deidara with something. Too bad that something wasn't as harmless as a simple block of wood.

'What've you-'? The puppeteer was pretty sure that sentence would be properly finished with a 'done'. So - what had he done? Given the blond the ibeginning/i of a really damn good reason to actually ihate/i him. A thing of which if he didn't do after this was over, then the poor fool was hopeless.

Sasori watched, in a highly apathetic manner, as the poison started to take effect. The red eyes never left the blond as he stood, stumbling off towards the door. Though, he wasn't worried about him escaping or anything; the stuff he'd used was pretty fast-acting in the beginning.

He only looked away after the sculptor had apparently lost feeling in his legs, falling and looking over at him, eyes pitifully frantic and pleading. It wouldn't be long, now, until the toxin had done it's job - then he could carry out the rest of his cruel little scheme. No, it wasn't to kill the blond, although that's what it probably damn well seemed like at that moment. The poison he'd used would just paralyze him, knock him out - it was one isimilar/i to the toxin he used to paralyze the victims he chose for his human puppets. Though this one iwas/i deadly... He had an anti-venom readily made - it had been sitting next to the jar he'd taken - he'd use it soon enough.

However, he was notorious for making his cures imore/i painful than the poisons themselves, was he not? And this poison wasn't painful, just - apparently - numbing.

The puppet looked back over to the sculptor after he had deemed the time enough for the poison to take near-full effect. And he was correct; it looked like the blond was out of it. He got Hiruko to reseal the poison jar before taking it from the non-living puppet, standing again to place it back on the shelf and grab the one that had been next to it - the anti-venom. Making his favourite little toy follow him, he made his way over to the discarded kunai, plucking it up from the ground and wiping it off in his pants before closing the gap between him and the fallen blond.

He knelt beside his partner, Hiruko coming to a stop just inches to the side. He passed the jar to his puppet, making it open it much like the other before pausing. Needles would be easier... Eugh. Standing again, he hurried back to the closet, rooting through it before he found a pack of needles; they were used for injecting venom into hollow weapons, normally, but eh... Tossing the kunai to one side, he took one of the needles from the pack and made his way back over to Deidara, kneeling again and reaching over to fill the needle with the needed liquid. After making sure there were no bubbles in it, he chose a 'safe spot' on the blond's neck where there'd be no important, fatal-if-jabbed things in the way before lining the needle up and sticking it in, injecting the cure.

After which he took the needle out, stood once more, and lead Hiruko back over to the closet - then got the puppet to reseal the tonic and pass it back. Placing it back in it's original spot and tossing the needle carelessly into the corner, he closed the mini-room and peered back over to the sculptor. Bah, he'd wake up again... iEventually/i. 'Til then...

Sasori made his way over to his little workstation and sat back down. Peace and quiet, unless the brat had some sort of freak allergic reaction or something... He gave a little mock-sigh, mumbling a sort-of apology towards his partner before getting to work on repairing his shoulder. Sure. Okay, he felt a little guilty. But it wasn't like he killed the idiot or anything...

Am I dead? All he could see was darkness. Nothing more. Nothing less. Just an eerie space of black. Am I? He slowly opened one eye to come face to face with more blackness. But this time there was light peeking through the edges of his line of vision. Then both eyes widened. Floor?! I am! Slowly, he tried turning his head. The numbing feeling was still there, but it wasn't as intense as beforehand. Almost as if he'd been pulled from the deep, cold snow and was wrapped up in a blanket for warmth. He blinked slowly as his blurred and corrupted vision began correcting itself. It looked like evening had hit by now. Wait…how long had he been on the floor for? As he gradually began to gain control of the rest of his body he slowly pushed himself up, using his good arm as balance. The blond lifted his bad arm slowly and flinched. Blood was still oozing out of the wound where Sasori had thrown the kunai at him. Screw the doctors. He was going to freaking A&E. Why wasn't he dead yet? Hadn't the poison meant to kill him? Or was it one of those evil drawn out poisons that knock you out and slowly and painfully kills you? Feh, the sculptor didn't even know if those sort of things existed. He knew fuck all about poisons and stuff. That was for the puppeteer to specialise in. Instead, he looked around the dark room. His vision still hadn't completely gone back to normal. All the squinting was beginning to give him a headache.

From the time the blond had been knocked out by the poison, to the time he awoke, the puppeteer had been able to finish the repairs on himself and start making that fairy puppet. He'd just finished carving the torso when he heard slight noises over towards the door, where Deidara had collapsed.

Sure, the room was dark, but he was used to working in low-lighting conditions. Plus, the window allowed for some light from outside. Even so, he'd probably wind up having to go over his work to make sure there were little to no flaws...

Oh, well. Sasori paused, placing the torso and the knife he'd been using down infront of him before turning slightly and peering over his shoulder. That goddamn feeling of regret towards his actions had grown - he actually iwanted/i to go over and make sure the sculptor was all right - but considering the blond wanted to ihate/i him...

Well, considering that, he'd have to be as cold as possible. Malicious, uncaring - moreso than before... Downright nasty. Was it a bad thing if he was damn well sure he'd be able to do it? Or maybe it was a good thing... He frowned just slightly, turning back around to face his workstation., wondering if he should say something or just go back to work. A short moment later, he settled for neither, sitting in simple silence.

Using the wall as support, Deidara shakily stood up. Thankfully, his legs were obeying him and were also beginning to feel like legs and not a pile of jelly. Once he felt that he was able to walk without the wall as ain aid, he began to walk over to Sasori's work station and sat down in front of his poor discarded plushie. He picked it up and hugged it with his only useable arm. 'Danna?' he asked quietly, tilting his head to the side slightly. 'I dun think your poison worked, un.' Of course this was pretty damn obvious seeing as the blond was had moved from one end of the room to the other by himself, was still breathing and was able to talk. He just felt he should point it out to his partner in case it hadn't occurred to him yet. No, he hadn't noticed when the human puppet looked over his shoulder to check if he was awake. Maybe asking more questions wasn't really a good idea, but he desperately wanted to know what he had done to deserve being poisoned like that. Hm…that could wait for now. The sculptor was just that much more worried about the state of his partner's arm in case he had hit him a bit too hard and thus, damaged him. 'Did I break your arm, un?' he asked, leaning forward slightly to see what the red head was actually doing.

Foot steps. Sasori listened as his partner approached, stopped, and sat down near by. The puppet's frown deepened just a tiny bit - he had ipoisoned/i the idiot. And he was going to approach him again? Given, the poison didn't kill him because he also got the antidote soon after he went unconcious and wasn't exactly dead, but still. It was the thought that usually counted, wasn't it?

He snorted at Deidara's little observation, though resisted telling him iwhy/i the poison 'didn't work'. Closing his eyes momentarily, the red-head instead gave an almost disappointed-sounding mock-sigh. "Pity," he muttered, though he didn't itruly/i mean it - he tried to make it sound like he did.

And the blond wanted to know if he had broke the puppeteer's arm? Ha. Another opportunity to be a little mean. He clenched a fist, not wanting to say what he was going to, but forcing himself to say it, anyway, as believably as he could. Considering he usually spoke monotonously, it wasn't that hard to accomplish. "No, you didn't." A lie. But -- whatever. "You're too weak."

Damnit - he had thrown a fucking poisoned kunai at the brat. Why was the idiot worried about him? 'iNow/i who isn't making sense', he wanted to ask, but refrained from doing so. Just like he refrained from doing anything but speak - he didn't trust himself not to do something utterly pathetic, for once.

"Pity." Deidara blinked slowly. Something wasn't quite right. Sasori had thrown a poisoned kunai at him. He witnessed it with his own eyes. Well…eye, seeing s one was covered, but whatever. The puppeteer had dipped the knife into the poison and then thrown it at him. The weapon had hit and the blond had felt the full impact of the poison. But something still didn't make sense. Wasn't his partner an expert when it came to poisons? So it was highly unlikely that he had picked the wrong one. If the human puppet had decided to make a kill he would've done it. Why wasn't the blond dead then? He didn't reply the one worded reply, feeling there was little point in doing so. Instead he waited for an answer to the question about the condition of the prosthetic arm. He smiled slightly. Ah, good! So he hadn't damaged him after all! 'That's good, un,' he said happily. 'Coz it would suck if I did.' Then he heard the slightly harsh comment on the sculptor's strength. He "hmph'd" quietly, obviously a little bit pissed off by the phrase "you're too weak." Bullshit. He wasn't weak. If he was, what the hell was he doing in Akatsuki. A place for the best of the best. And was certainly able to cause quite a lot of damage to the red head. And those hits he had done were quite hard too. Maybe a little bit more hard than he had initially intended. 'I'm not weak un,' he insisted. 'It would be easy for me to break you into little bits.' Of course, he wasn't really hinting that he'd actually do it. He was simply putting a point across.

The puppeteer turned his head just slightly, eyes opening again half-way, at the happy-sounding reply to the first part of his answer to the blond's question. If tone was anything to go by, then his little plan to get the brat to hate him had failed. Eugh... Fucking ihopeless/i, indeed.

Though a plan B started formulating in Sasori's evil little head at the quiet 'hmph' and verbal reply to the second half of his answer. That creepy little smile wormed it's way back into the puppet's expression. Easy for Deidara to break him into little bits, hmm? Did he hear that correctly? He snorted, eyes opened the rest of the way as he turned a bit more so that he could face his partner. The red-head almost looked manic. "Is that so." Ha! Only if he ilet/i the brat do such a thing, would he be able to.

He turned his attention back to the workstation infront of him, picking up the torso and setting it to one side before looking for a suitable peice of wood for the next part of the fairy puppet. If only for something to occupy half his mind with. "It would be easy for me to poison you again, too, brat." It was said in such a way that it sounded like he was considering it. He actually was, but plan B consisted of provoking the blond to hell and back, not scaring the fuck out of him. Plus too many poisons and antidotes swimming around in his bloodstream would probably end in disaster.

"I doubt you'd be able to win a match against Tobi right now," he muttered, inwardly cringing at his own words. Ew - iany/ione would be able to defeat that idiot, most likely; even a mere genin.

That look Sasori had on his face was rather worrying. He looked somewhat like an insane psycho freako. Or something along those lines. He blinked slowly. 'Yes,' he replied shortly, annoyance hinting in his voice. Of course he could. All Deidara needed was an axe or a scythe or a knife or some very sharp scissors and it would be simple enough. And the puppeteer would be pretty unable to put himself back together again. He'd be much like Hidan after having all his limps and head detached from his body and no Kakuzu to stitch him back together again. Unless he could, like…reform himself magically or something. The blond watched as his partner continued whatever he was doing and saw that as a chance to investigate. He moved forward slightly, moving his head so he could see what was in front of the human puppet. Hm…looked like he was making yet another puppet. Surprise surprise. He wondered how many of those things the red head was capable of creating without getting bored. Heck, even the sculptor could get bored of sculpting after a while. He blinked as he commented on how a match against him and Tobi would go, before the blue eyes narrowed. Where the hell had that come from? Heh, he'd play along. 'I doubt you'd be able to win a match against an five year old girl right now,' Deidara replied, almost mimicking the way the last comment had been sent across. Even though an five year old girl was most probably a much better fighter than Tobi, it seemed fitting to emphasise the word "girl." No doubt a girl would put up less of a fight than a boy.

Yes? Ha! What, did Deidara think he was some sort of oh-so fragile pushover or something?! Sasori chuckled, albeit humourlessly. "You'd only be able to if I let you, brat," he pointed out quietly, grabbing half an arm's length of the light wood from one of the haphazardly placed piles and snatching up the knife from the floor. Tch, especially with that arm - he only had one useable hand at the moment, right? He'd only have one hand to weild a weapon with or perform jutsu or whatever. And he wouldn't be able to keep the puppeteer still or anything - not like he'd be able to with two hands. But still.

He started on the next part of the new puppet - the upper left arm, specifically, seeming so deep in concentration that, when the blond spoke again, he nearly cringed. Almost made a mistake. Almost. His expression went absolutely blank at his partner's words, and he glanced back at the sculptor, blinking. Several times. "Oh...?" Closing his eyes, the puppeteer mockingly sighed and shook his head. "Hm. Everyone knows a dead fly has more skill than you do, but I digress." He shrugged, going back to what he had been doing just seconds before.

The red-head paused only another few seconds later, sitting in considerable silence before adding, "I simply meant that with your current injury, you're pretty much useless." Maybe not iuseless/i, exactly, but he iwas/i trying to be mean and all that. What better way - other than physical abuse - was there, than with little put-downs and insults? Then again, silence served it's purposes, too...

Exactly. And even if Sasori did allow him to perform such an action, it would then be the time for Deidara to resign and come up with some clever excuse as to why he shouldn't break his partner into little wood chips. "Brat"…hn…He made an mental note of that. He'd have to update the chart in a while. What was there to record now? The puppeteer had poisoned him…that would push his line right down. And those rather mean comments that were being thrown at him didn't exactly help either…hm…looked like he'd be right off the chart once the update had been finished. Meaning he'd need more card to stick on the bottom and extend it further. The blond blinked back, continuing to mirror his partner. Heck, if the red head was purposely being mean for some unknown reason then he could at least be annoying in return. What? A dead fly? His eyes narrowed. What cheek. Sure, the puppet was more than double his age, but he still felt like the elder when it came to appearances and such. And right now, it just looked like a bratty little teenager needed to learn how to respect his elders. He smirked slightly at the comment on him being useless because of his injured arm. Another thing the sculptor could flip around and shove in the human puppet's wooden nose. 'And who's fault is that?' he asked sarcastically. 'If you hadn't nearly broken it last night and thrown a fucking knife at it, it would be on it's way to a full recovery, un!' Of course, it had been the weasel Uchiha's fault because he had been the one who had dislocated it in the first place. Hm…and maybe the artist had used it a little bit too much when it came to performing handsigns and holding things with it. But Sasori's actions had made it much worse. Surely it could've been classed as domestic violence or something.

Hm... He'd have to go out shopping again - for material, this time, if only to get something cheap to make a half-assed dress out of, for the puppet he was making. Or maybe he could get Kakuzu to sew up something... Ha. Yes, he was trying to find a means of getting lost in thought. That way, there'd be a chance of inot/i hearing Deidara and thus, accidentally, ignoring him. But that more than likely wasn't going to be happening.

Instead of accidentally not hearing the blond's words, he, instead... Well, did. And they caused him to frown slightly, since they iwere/i true. He couldn't deny that. However - each time, the sculptor had done isomething/i to sort-of bring either thing upon himself. At least he had in the puppet's opinion. "If you had let go, I wouldn't have nearly broke your arm. And, if you hadn't brought ithat/i up, the following events would've have happened." Although he idid/i feel guilty, he did his damnedest to hide it. Possibly the only hint was that his grip on the knife he was using tightened a bit - though that could've also meant he was getting ready to throw it or something - and a slight lowering of his head. Just islight/i.

Eugh... Sometimes, Sasori wished he could use the excuse of sleep to get someone to shut up and stop bothering him. This was one of those times. Okay, being mean in a more intentional way than usual wasn't very hard at all. However, it wasn't exactly ipleasant/i, either. He paused in his work, apparently unaware that he'd driven the knife a little too hard into the wood that time around, anyway. Okay, so he probably felt worse about it than he actually thought he should be... Feeling.

But the blond, in some vague, indirect way, had brought the whole thing upon himself when it came to that, too.

Urgh, if only he could fold his arms. He had the will power to do so, but lacked the physical ability. Instead, he slumped his shoulders slightly, obviously pissed off. No matter what, Deidara certainly wasn't having this thrown back in his face. 'You didn't have to grab my arm! You knew damn well it was healing!' he pointed out angrily. 'And I had to bring this up otherwise I still would've thought you had been leading me on, un!' Which was true. And it had solved a few problems. But it had also made him just slightly more confused. Enough. The blond wanted to go out and not come back for a while…but where to go? There was the living room although it wasn't that secluded. There was always that hospital visit, although it was getting dark. It must've been pretty late. Gallivanting in the woods at night wasn't particularly wise, was it? Maybe it could be possible to use one of his ready made birds and make it larger and leave it in that size. It would cause less strain on his injury. And flying would be much faster than just walking. And it would be much more unlikely for him to get lost if he flew. Sure he might crash into a tree or something, but if he had his scope he'd be fine. The sculptor moved over to his box, digging around for a decent bird to use. Hm…this one looked okay. It had four wings, meaning it would be able to fly faster. Perfect. He moved over to the window and opened it, quickly throwing the bird out. Less than a second after he had done that he quickly performed the necessary handsigns for the bird to expand. Once he was sure the bird was stable, he went back to the drawer and took out his scope. 'I'm going to the hospital, un,' he announced, fitting it over his left eye. 'Dunno when I'll be back.' Heh…as if Sasori would even care. And with that, Deidara made his way over to the window, ready to climb out and onto his sculpture.

No comment was made by the red-head. No comment was needed, anyway; what the blond said was true. And he couldn't refute it without looking absolutely childish and utterly stupid. He gently withdrew the knife from the wood, looking to make sure it was still useable - it was. Seemingly ignoring what Deidara had said - and the blond, in general - Sasori once more continued with carving away at the eventually-to-be upper arm.

Though he did listen - to the movement, at least. Sounded like the blond was looking through his box for something. Sure, the puppet was curious, but he kept his eyes where they were and didn't bother to look. Hm? Apparently the sculptor had found what he had been looking for. He moved his head a tiny bit so he could see the window out of the corner of his eyes as the blond opened it. Ah, the blond was going somewhere... But where? Bah, he'd get his answer soon enough...

... Which he did. The blond was going to the hospital, huh? ... Made sense. It wasn't like there were any qualified medics in the Akatsuki, and the blond now had itwo/i injuries. One courtesy of the puppeteer. And, one made worse by... Again, the puppeteer. If only the human body was as easily fixed as a puppet's - he'd offer to help. Though last time he tried to do so, it didn't do much good at all... So, he kept silent. For a moment.

Didn't know when he'd be back? Hmm. Fine with him, though the red-head would go searching if he wasn't back by dawn. But he wasn't actually going to let his partner know that. He turned to look at the window more easily once the blond went back over to it, and would've simply been content with watching him go...

But, eh, whatever. He actually felt bad. Might as well say something just islightly/i nice after all the mean things. "Be careful, Deidara," he muttered, actually sounding somewhat like he meant it.

Hm…it was most likely going to be cold. Deidara moved away from the window and over to the cupboard to retrieve his cloak. As he pulled it on, he made sure that his damaged arm hadn't been pulled through the sleeve. He didn't want to end up accidentally using it. He walked over to the window again and was about to climb out when he heard Sasori speak. He blinked slowly. Was he worried about him? Ha! As if. Surely the puppet would be happy if the blond ended up falling from a great height and thus being killed. Although…it was...considerate of him to tell him to be careful. 'I will, un!' he replied, climbing out onto the bird. 'I'm always careful-' A foot slipping off his mode of transportation cut him off. Urgh, he'd jinxed himself. He grabbed onto one of the bird's clay feathers tightly and pulled himself back up, keeping his balance this time around. Not a good start to the journey. Hopefully it'd get a bit better. At that moment in time the only light that was guiding him was being emitted by the many windows decorating the building and of course, the moon, which was currently being blocked out by a number of clouds. Fuck…it better not start raining again. The single visible blue eye closed as he tripped a switch on his accessory causing the whole area to turn a rather sickly looking green. 'That's better,' he muttered to himself, making the bird rise up and fly off in the direction of the village. The sculptor was inwardly planning what he might have to do after having his arm checked, dressed and whatever doctors do to useless limbs. There was the option of staying in one of their beds for some free food. Even though their food was even worse than his own cooking. Should he risk flying back? Risk having his arm damaged again. Hm…if he didn't want to get it damaged again it would be a better idea to just not annoy the red head too much.

He would be careful, huh? Sasori watched, not all too surprised when the brat nearly fell completely off of the bird. He watched as well as he could from his vantage point at the workstation as Deidara pulled himself back up onto the bird. 'Always careful', was he? Well, he'd ihate/i to see when he wasn't trying to be careful. Seriously.

The red eyes stayed on the blond until the bird started moving upwards, in which case they turned back to the items their owner held. Both the knife and wood were placed back down on the floor before the red-head stood up. It was one of those rare times he didn't feel like doing much of anything - not even making puppets. Hmm. He stooped down, plucking the book of fairytales up from it's resting place before making his way over to his bed and sitting back down.

Well, since his partner was off for who knows how long and there really wasn't anyone he wanted to chat with or anything... The puppeteer cracked the book open, scanning over the table of contents. Cinderella? ... No. Rapunzel? Nah. Hansel and Gretel? Boring. Rumpelstiltskin? ... Ha, one he hadn't heard of before. Page what - ninety-two? He flipped to the indicated page and started reading, though his mind was on several things at once and not just the words infront of him.

What could he do to make the blond dislike him even more to the point of hate? What kind of material was he going to need to get for that dress he was going to make for the puppet he was making? Should he go fancy or plain, maybe use one of Zetsu's dresses? And, finally... What the ihell/i would a gnome want with a human baby?


	16. Chapter 16

After hanging around the normal waiting room for about half an hour it had then dawned on Deidara that if he stayed there for any longer there'd be hardly any chance of leaving the hospital that night. He wandered down the corridors, searching for A&E. It wasn't as if he could be turned down. There was a deep gash in his arm and it was almost impossible to move it without sending surges of pain up and down the whole limb. Even if it wasn't an accident, to him, it seemed like a pretty big emergency. Hopefully he wouldn't be in there for too long. And he hadn't been. The sculptor had managed to emerge form the hospital with his arm completely re-dressed and a set of prescription painkillers and antibiotics. Of course, he had been asked how he'd managed to get his arm in such bad condition in the first place. Blaming it on some twisted form of domestic violence wouldn't be very good for his reputation. So instead it was some stupid kid's fault. After the journey home which almost ended in disaster due to the batteries in his scope running out, the blond stopped outside his and Sasori's bedroom window and tapped on it, hoping he was still in there to let him in. Otherwise he'd have to take the front door. He was tired after being pumped with painkillers and other such concoctions and didn't particularly want to do too much walking. All he wanted at the moment in time was his bed. And his plushie. 

In the time it took Deidara to finally get his arm checked out and get back home, Sasori had read several of the fairytales in the book - he felt like a little kid again, being interested in such tripe. Then again, he read somewhere that all fairytales had some sort of hidden meaning behind them - though despite his true age, he couldn't figure out just what the hell they were really about. They seemed like mere children's stories. Baah.

He was about to turned back to the table of contents after reading through Rapunzel, though he stopped when he heard something tap on the window. Hm? The window wasn't near any trees... Oh, right. The sculptor. The puppet quickly shut the book, shoving it haphazardly under his pillow; it wouldn't do for someone to know he had actually been reading that damn book. 'Specially the blond. After he hid the stupid book, he peered over at the window before getting off of his bed and wondering if he should go over and open it. It would be a nice thing to do... However, he was trying his best to be imean/i.

Ah... Whatever. The red-head made his way over to the window, rolling his eyes and opening it before stepping over to the left of it. Hmph. Now what should he do? He could always wait until the brat went to sleep, then start reading that awful little book again... Or he could go downstairs and find a different book - something less childish. Hmm.

As soon as Sasori had opened the window and moved to the left of it, Deidara hopped off his bird and climbed through the window, back into the room. Hm…now the bird. What to do…Shrugging, he waved his hand at it, causing it to fly off away from the building before exploding in to billions of tiny pieces of clay. He stared up at the orange light in the sky in awe, almost like a kid on Christmas morning, staring at their presents. When the display ended, he turned and walk over to his bed, searching around under it for his notebook and a pen. Hm…something squishy…something fluffy…aha! Book! He pulled it out from under the bed and it was soon followed by a pencil. Now…two antibiotics at breakfast. Two at lunch. And two at dinner. Have them after food. Not with alcohol. Don't exceed 4 painkillers in 24 hours coz of large amounts of…painkiller stuff. Hm…the blond scribbled that out and put instead "Only take the painkillers if you're in total agony." With that, he ripped the page out of his notebook, got up and wandered over to the chart, sticking it next to it. There. Now he'd be able to remember his dosages. Now. Chart. The sculptor plucked the red pen off the wall and, after taking a quick glance at his partner, drew a very long, straight line down the paper, almost praying it would squeak if he pressed hard enough. He finally stopped when the line was less than a millimetre above the bottom of the paper. There. Up to date. And with that, he then made his way back over to his bed. 'You punctured a vein, un,' he muttered absently.

The red-head watched the blond enter the room boredly, moving back over to his bed and inwardly cringing when he heard the far-off explosion of the bird going... Well, to put it simply, 'boom'. So crude - he called that art? Eugh. Fourtunately he didn't feel like bringing up that tried and true discussion - or, rather, argument.

He was still pondering what to do when Deidara went searching for something under his own bed. Blank, glassy red eyes simply stared, blinking only once the blond found what he had been looking for. A notebook and a pen? Hm. Whatever. Sasori turned his eyes to the wall straight ahead of him, pointlessly chewing on his bottom lip. Well, it seemed the idiot was all right. And, he had gotten back before dawn, which saved the puppet a bit of a pain-in-the-ass search. Which was a good thing.

So lost in thought was he, an annoying isqueaking/i noise cut through his mind like a friggin' hot knife through butter. He peered over, mildly annoyed, at the sculptor. Ah, that stupid little chart. He was updating it. Ha, how far down did get, this time?

... Pretty damn far down. Not like he cared. No, no, he refused to! ... Though to some extent, as with his earlier actions, it bothered him. A ilittle/i. And he found himself trying to think up ways to get his little score-thing back up - before he shook his head in order to get rid of them. Though it didn't quite work as well as he'd hoped.

Fine. He'd try not to iphysically/i or ichemically/i harm the brat. That left mentally. Easy enough...

He closed his eyes, looking away again. Bah, whatev- hmm? Punctured a vein? He furrowed his brows, worried - though only for a moment. As he'd observed seconds ago, the blond was all right. "Really? That's too bad. I was aiming for your throat." ... Well, okay, he hadn't been, but... Yeah.

Maybe it would be wise for the blond to start taking his antibiotics in the morning. That way it'd be easier to keep track of the amount of tablets he had taken. Plus, tonnes of poisonkillers and other such chemicals were still swirling around his bloodstream, which could make it safer to take them another time. Although…he couldn't exactly remember too much of what the nurse had instructed him to do. He had been far too preoccupied by the blue and white cast he had been given. Sure, red would've been better, matching colour scheme and all, but he refrained from asking or anything. By the looks of things that hospital was attending to patients in much more trouble than he was. He wasn't really expecting a reply to his little statement. Just a noise or something that Sasori usually responded with. Deidara turned to glare at him. But then smirked. Another one to use to his advantage. 'You should work on your aim then, un,' he snorted. Something still didn't seem right about the whole thing. The puppet did have a pretty good aim so why had the knife hit his arm and not anywhere vital? And why hadn't the poison killed him? Either his partner was being very slack or was just determined to annoy him. Most probably the first one. 'And if you wanted me dead you shoulda made sure you had the right poison first, un,' he muttered., reaching over for "something." Hm… The sculptor look over slightly. Where was Scorpling? Hadn't he brought him over? He sat up, and saw the plushie bird lying on the floor near the red head's work station. Aha, there he was. Or she…the gender of the toy had still been left undecided. It. There. The bed creaked as he stood, wandering over to where his poor neglected toy lay, retrieving it. It sort of reminded him of the time…coz plushies usually lie around in a bed all day, right? Feh, whatever. The stuff that the nurses had put in the blond were obviously beginning to make him tired.

Hmmn... All right. Sasori had a little bit of a plan for once Deidara went to bed and got to sleep. He'd update the part of the chart he was 'responsible' for, so the brat wouldn't get on his case about it later, then he'd go back to reading that stupid fairytale book until dawn or something. Then he'd... Hide it. And either work on his puppets or leave. Perfect plan.

He twitched visibly at the comment about his aim, semi-annoyed, half-lidded eyes travelling back over to the blond. "Oh, really?" The red-head cocked his head slightly to one side, a cruel little smile ghosting across his features. Oh! And he commented on his choice of poisons, too! The puppeteer rolled his eyes, laying back on his bed so that he could easily see the cieling, one leg bent so that the knee was in the air. Haha, what to say, what... To... Say...

iCreak/i. He listened as his partner wandered over to where-ever, though didn't bother to look over or watch him. He was too busy thinking of a reply - until he finally thought of one, that is. "Are you going to volunteer for target practice, then, Deidara? As the target." iPause/i. "Or maybe I can use you as a test subject once you're sleeping, to see if I have my poisons labelled correctly." Something he definately wouldn't do, but he doubted the blond knew that.

He momentarily closed his eyes, frowning. All right, truthfully, he disliked what he was trying to do. Really, he thought the poisoning was going to be iit/i. But now he had a goal in mind. He was going to be aiming to get the blond to actually say those three words - 'I hate you' - and truly mean them.

... Meaning he was going to need a new strategy. Hmph... Maybe he'd ask around next day or something, or go to the village and find a library - perhaps there'd actually be books on the subject? There were books on almost iany/ithing.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to go and get ready for bed. No doubt it was pretty late, but it wasn't as if Deidara had to get up early or anything. Showering would be rather difficult with his arm in a cast. It would probably be a little bit stinky after the great unveiling. That couldn't be too soon. It wasn't as if the limb had been broken or anything. And it was beginning to be a struggle to stay awake as each second passed. Hn…might as well. But he was getting changed by himself. He certainly did not need the puppet's help this time around either. Then he heard the suggestion of target practice…with a twist. 'No,' he muttered. 'That'd be stupid anyway coz you'd never hit me anyways, un.' Heck, if Sasori was going to be plain spiteful and rude, surely the blond was allowed to be rude back. If anything, he was trying to see how long it would take for him to snap and attempt to kill him or something. Then it would be time to run away. Far away. And not come back for a while. 'I'd like to see you try that, un.' Well…the red head claimed to have feelings for him, so he wasn't really worried about it actually happening. Unless he turned out to be more twisted than the sculptor had thought and even decided to kill possibly the only person he had feelings for…even though he hated him for that. Argh. Maybe it would be a good idea to stop the thinking. He'd really done far to much of that recently. Seeing as Deidara was blond it could also prove to be rather painful and perhaps damaging to whatever lay within that skull. Hopefully it was a brain that wasn't the size of a pea.

Oh, wait. He could always ask Itachi about ways to make the blond hate him. After all, the weasel had done such a igood/i job with his brother. But then, he ithankfully/i wasn't related to Deidara iand/i he didn't want to go killing off the sculptor's family. That would be going a little itoo/i far... Okay. Nevermind. He wouldn't ask the young-ish Uchiha. Nothing good would come of it - he'd just think of something on his own.

He truly doubted Tobi would have any useful advice. Kisame? HA! Hidan would just suggest converting to Jashinism and sacrificing the brat, he knew it. Kakuzu would probably suggest selling him to someone - like hell he'd do ithat/i. Zetsu? ... Zetsu would probably suggest letting him eat the brat. Again, like hell. Leader-sama wouldn't be of much help, either, and that blue-haired person was never around unless something important was going on...

Sasori's eyes narrowed slightly at what sounded like a second poke at his supposedly crappy aim. The puppet propped himself up in order to give the blond a mildly irritated stare before replying. "Never hit you? What did I happen to do several hours ago?" That sure as hell hadn't been a tickle-attack or something. Maybe it would've been to a certain religious fanatic, but that guy wasn't totally sane, anyway. Then again, who the hell iwas/i sane in that house?

"Hmm." A slightly sadistic smile alighted on the red-heads expression. It was fake, though he could - as had so far been demonstrated - act if he wanted to. "Then I will, brat. Don't be surprised if you don't wake up tomorrow." He let himself fall back onto the bed again, once more staring up at the cieling. Ha - maybe scaring the hell out of the other artist with that Ring plan he had in the works would well... Work. Four days tomorrow, right? Or... Was it five? Whatever. He needed to get working on that, too...

Deidara sat up, making sure that Scorpling wasn't going to just roll off the bed or something like that. If the poor thing had been alive, it would certainly be bruised by now at the amount of times it had been dropped on the floor or held onto so tightly. Though, thankfully it was only a toy and obviously didn't feel such things. Kinda like Sasori. He was about to reach for his pillow when the puppet pointed out the fact that he had actually hit him earlier. Well…okay, he had. It was very true. And the blond was almost going to back down. But did he? No fucking way. 'That's coz I was scared,' he muttered, reluctantly. Yeah, he had been scared, but he had certainly been capable of moving out the way before the kunai had struck him. Well…wild animals don't move when they're scared, do they? He picked the pillow up and grabbed his t-shirt that lay underneath. Urgh, he was too tired to get up and go to the cupboard to get changed now. Instead, he moved himself around, so his back was facing his partner. As the artist tried his best to remove his top he began to recall what had made him so modest in the first place. He didn't think he was fat, he didn't have any huge scars to be ashamed of and he was quite pleased with his physique in total. Perhaps it was because being around the red head made him nervous. Nervous that he might be watching. Planning on how to puppetise him or something. He remained silent, almost acting as if he had been ignoring him completely. Yes. Now he was worried. Which meant he wasn't going to come back with anything witty or cheeky. Once he had managed to get the shirt off with his teeth he turned slightly to look at the puppet. 'You wouldn't though…would you, un?' he asked quietly. He stood up slowly. Great…time for the trousers. This was going to be a fun event. Deidara got off the bed slowly and began trying to ease them off with his one hand. But to no prevail. If he continued that way he'd most probably end up falling onto the floor due to misbalance. 'Danna?' he called sheepishly. 'Can you help me, un?'

One thing he'd need was an ordered list of who'd be dying first, second, third and so on. He'd be going first, since it'd make everything else easier... Hmm. When it came to everyone else, he'd have to make it so no one knew what the hell was actually going on until they got picked. And then he'd have to rely on them cooperating. Obviously, the blond wasn't going to be second. Or third. Actually, he was planning on getting everyone 'killed' before the blond, leaving the poor brat alone until his time finally came. And ithen/i...

Sasori blinked slowly after hearing Deidara's little excuse as to why he'd managed to hit him last time. Scared? "Fright usually enhances the reflexes," the red-head was quick to point out. "At least for those with brains." Tobi would be hell to fit into his plans. Both Uchiha's would be. And Hidan... And Kakuzu... Hm. None of them would probably cooperate... He'd have to go get some chloroform later, or something.

He kept his eyes to the cieling for a moment longer before turning his head a bit to look at his partner. His half-naked in the sense that he ihad no shirt on/i partner. Well ithis/i was certainly rare. Sure, he could only see the blond's back - but still. Red eyes widened a fraction before wandering back to gazing at the cieling and trying to mentally kill off several thoughts that he did inot/i want to expand on. Some, yes, involved human puppetization and such. Some... Well, those were the ones he was trying to get rid of the fastest.

Hmm? The blond had said something before he got that little eyeful. Now what was it, again? Something like... 'You wouldn't though' or something. Pertaining to that bit about poisoning the brat in his sleep, he assumed. Hm. "I would." Though truthfully, he wouldn't. Another short moment was spent staring upwards until he heard his pseudo-name called, followed by a... Question.

The puppet looked back over at the sculptor, to see what he was asking for help with... Left eye immediately twitching when he assumed he guessed correctly at what it was the blond apparently needed help with. The brat needed help getting his trousers off...? Perhaps it would be safer to ask before assuming. "Help you with what?"

There was always the option of using scissors or something. Deidara could rip and tear his way out of his trousers. But that would mean losing a fairly decent piece of clothing. And it would be a waste. Uhm…he could use his feet and wriggle out. Even though that would be pretty difficult. The scissors idea would have to be put forward if the puppeteer just so happened to resign. 'I don't believe you, un,' he muttered, undoing the button and unzipping his fly. Urgh, why hadn't he put on some looser fitting trousers? Then he wouldn't be in this sort of situation, feeling completely stupid about having to ask for help to get out of them. The blond's right eye twitched slightly. Why was Sasori being all stupid again? He did that earlier. How annoying. He was tempted to be sarcastic by saying something along the lines of "to lay an egg" or "to set you on fire." But of course, saying something like that might cause the red head to resign and decide to make his partner find his own way out of the trousers. He turned to look at him, blushing slightly. It had occurred to him that it would mean he'd have to expose his body further if he wanted help. Slightly cringeworthy, slightly unnerving and slightly embarrassing. Urgh, better bite the bullet, right? 'Can you help me take my trousers off, please?' he asked in an almost inaudible voice. The sculptor made no move to point out why he needed help, seeing as it was pretty damn obvious. Better go get the scissors ready then. Just in case Sasori was going to carry on being mean to him and decided not to help. No…he might. So the topless blond just stood there, awaiting an answer and aid.

Didn't believe him? Even though he had already poisoned him? Though he idid/i get the brat the antidote minutes afterwards - but still. Wasn't like he knew that. The poison was just 'defective', supposedly, and that's how he'd leave that. Anyway... That train of thought was getting confusing. Sasori rolled his eyes, mildly miffed. "Really. That's your problem." Perhaps he should see if he had any inon/ifatal poisons on his shelves once the blond was asleep. Then inject him with a bit of it. To prove that he iwould/i poison the brat in his sleep - albeit not seriously.

He blinked slowly when the sculptor turned, hiding a somewhat mischeivious smirk when the almost inaudible question was asked. Oh, ho, he heard the request quite well. But, he was feeling rather... Evil minded, at the moment. He sat up, head cocked to one side, an almost innocently curious look overtaking his features. "Could you say that louder, Deidara? I didn't quite hear you." Well, this was going to be quite interesting.

The sculptor needed help getting his trousers off. So he'd guessed right. Haa, though he was trying to be mean - he'd help. If only because one, the idiot seemed unable to do it himself, anyway, and since he had been responsible for making that stupid injury worse... Well, yeah. And, two - it would be rather... Amusing, to see just how uncomfortable he could make the brat by being fairly close again. Plus, considering the particular thing he needed help with... There were imany/i ways to make the poor blond uncomfortable. Mentally iand/i physically.

Deidara was far too exhausted to mess around. And he was dangerously near the end of his fuse. 'Danna,' he growled firmly through gritted teeth in a very annoyed manner. 'There're a tonne of chemicals swimming around my body and I really really really want to go to sleep. I would really appreciate it if you stopped being so…urgh.' He put his head in his good hand. What was the word? Awkward. Yes. To him, Sasori was purposely being awkward. And if this was to carry on, this would completely result in the blond having to either rip the trousers off or sleep in them and beg his partner to help him out in the morning. If he was still alive by morning that is. It then occurred to the sculptor that he hadn't actually done what the red head had asked him to and repeat the question at a louder volume. With the annoyed expression still plastered on his face, he made his way over to his partner's bed and knelt down. Just in case he was planning on pretending to mishear this time around too. 'Please can you help me out of my trousers, un,' he asked in at a "normal" Deidara volume in a voice that was almost hinting something along the lines of "I'm almost ready to rip something apart. Namely something living and fleshy." Looks like the puppet was safe there.

Sasori secretly rejoiced at how irritated he was getting Deidara, though he was outwardly apathetic once again. Hmm? He would appreciate it if he stopped being so iwhat/i? ... Yeah, he would've asked, though he didn't think he'd want to know the answer. He instead shrugged, though he idid/i sort of feel bad for the brat. See, that was part of the reason he liked being a puppet... But that was a repeatitive internal rant best left for another time.

He waited for his pointless - aside for the purpose of irritating the blond - request to be answered almost patiently. Though he had several things he idid/i want to do... Bah, maybe he should've just helped the idiot, instead. Oh, well, too late now.

The red-head watched as the annoyed-looking sculptor made his way over to his bed and knelt down, vaguely curious. Eh? He slightly smirked once more when the question was repeated in a more normal volume in a tone that, if anything, only made his smirk widen. This was proving to be mildly amusing already and he hadn't even idone/i anything yet. "All right." He shuffled to the edge of his bed before standing, arms crossed. "Stand up, then, brat." It would be kind of difficult to help him get out of his trousers - or attempt to make him highly uncomfortable - unless he was up, afterall.

Ah, good. The awkwardness seemed to have passed. Sasori was going to help him…and it didn't look like he was going to be annoying again. The quicker this was over with the better. Following his partner's lead, Deidara exited his kneeling position and stood up, trying his best not to hide a grin. It was at these rare moments when the two artists stood in front of each other that the blond felt like the one in control. And it was only because of one simple thing. Height difference. He imagined the red head had still only been a teenager when he had turned himself into a puppet judging by his youthful looks. Meaning that either had been tiny or he had puppetised himself before he had grown to his maximum height. He expected the latter. He looked away slightly, blushing at the thought of the puppeteer being so close to him again…but this time it would be a lot closer. Something that the sculptor was not all too ecstatic about. Urgh, why couldn't he just sleep in those trousers? It wasn't as if it would hurt him. Heck, sleeping in the bathroom the night before had caused more damage. 'Dun call me brat, un,' he mumbled, cerulean orbs locked onto the wall and lips almost forming a pout.

The puppeteer quickly hid the smirk on his face with the usual mask of apathy. All right, so in essence, he was going to be partially stripping the blond. He wasn't experienced in that category, of course, unless one counted clothing and unclothing puppets. But it didn't seem like it would be too damn hard to do such with something - or someone - who would cooperate.

Then there was the 'how am I going to make him uncomfortable' thing. How, indeed. Heh. Thanks to those anatomy books, he wasn't a complete stranger to how the male human body worked. Plus... He had once been human. And male. Wait... That thought made it sound like he hadn't always been a guy... Right, anyway, moving along...

Sasori watched as Deidara stood, inwardly twitching. Yeah, height. It was sort of annoying, but it was all the more isatisfying/i to be able to over-power taller people. It was something people usually didn't expect. Unless they knew a few things.

He noticed the blush, though the blond looked away slightly, then snorted at the mumbled words. "Why not? The word fits you," he pointed out, before taking a step towards the brat in question. Hmm... He reached over, hooking his thumbs in the waist of his partner's trousers and giving a sort-of experimental tug. No challenge at all.

... Though he could damn well see the button was undone and the fly was already down - well, he was trying to make the idiot feel iuncomfortable/i, wasn't he? He slid a hand over to that particular location to 'check', 'accidentally' brushing the hand over a certain iother/i area in the process. "You are a whiney child, after all," he added, almost itoo/i casually. Especially for him.

'It doesn't, un,' Deidara protested in response. A brat was a child, which he wasn't. A brat was spoiled, which he wasn't. A brat was annoying...well…okay, he was annoying occasionally...whatever. And a brat was impolite. Sure, he could be impolite when he wanted to, but he wasn't usually. Basically, from his point of view, the word "brat" certainly didn't "fit him." He looked down, curiously as to how his partner was planning on ridding him of his trousers. So he was just gunna tug them off? Hn…'spose the sculptor was capable of doing that…although it would be rather difficult. Wait…what was he doing? Blue eyes widened as the prosthetic hand ran over that certain area. He gritted his teeth, almost prepared to slap the red head. And hopefully his head would go flying across the room, perhaps landing on the floor with a loud bump leaving a nice dent on his stupid little face. But instead of doing that, he turned back to look at the wall. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage. 'Maybe,' the sculptor muttered before shooting a glare at the puppet again. 'But at least I'm not a pervy old fart who molests his partner.' He then moved his good hand to latch onto the wooden one, moving it up slightly so it was level with his waistband. No way was he letting him violate him. 'Get on with it, Pinocchio.' Hm...that came out maybe a little bit too menacing than the blond had originally intended…phsa, whatever. The quicker this was over, the better. He didn't want to embarrass himself by getting excited.

It did itoo/i, but he'd argue the point another time. Maybe draw him a diagram of how the word brat did fit him, so he'd stop denying it.

That would be for later. Sasori chuckled inwardly at the muttered 'maybe' before twitching at just what soon came after it. Pervy old fart, was he? Who molests his partner? His left eye twitched in irritation. For one, he wasn't... Okay, he was old. But he wasn't---! ... Okay, so maybe he was ialmost/i molesting Deidara. Almost. If he had imolested/i the blond, he would've-

No, no, bad thoughts. Thankfully he was a puppet; they were annoying, nothing 'else'. He frowned just slightly when his hand was moved back to where it ishould/i have been, before he said anything. "I was just checking to see if it was undone, idiot," he muttered, glaring back at his partner.

... And there he went with that iPinocchio/i thing. The puppet resisted the urge to hurt the sculptor in some way or just leave him there to struggle out of his trousers on his own, instead replying with a malicious-sounding, "Fine, Fairy-boy." Sure, it was immature as hell, but if the idiot was going to call ihim/i something, he might as well return the favour.

He returned to the task at hand, both thumbs once again hooked into the trouser's waistband. He crouched, so he'd be able to pull the damn things down all the way - a pretty awkward position, if he'd have bothered to think about it - before... Doing just that. Pulling them down. Tugging at first until they reached a place where they were actually somewhat easy to slide off.

- So Deidara carried on staring at the wall. Hm. It was actually quite preoccupying, wasn't it? He could now see why the puppet spent so much time staring at it when awkward moments like this were to arise. He almost burst out laughing at the excuse that was used. Checking to see if it was undone? Yeah, right. When pigs fly with gnomes and bumble bees riding on them. What a lame excuse. The blond was very prepared to point out that he wouldn't exactly mind if the red head decided to molest him. But denying it when he obviously was was…well…stupid. 'So you're blind too, un?' he asked in a somewhat sarcastic manner. It was pretty damn clear that his fly was undone. It wasn't as if the button and zip were invisible or anything. It was all the more reason to suspect his partner. "Fairy boy". Urgh. That reminded him of the amusing slash unpleasant scream fest he had had with dear sweet Hidan. Well…at least Sasori hadn't referred to the sculptor as a princess or anything super feminine like that. He whacked his partner over the head again. 'You dressed up as one too, un,' he pointed out agitatedly. In a very slutty dress too no less. Something he was certainly never going to let slide. Shame he'd forgotten to take pictures of the "delightful" sight. Once the trousers were around his ankles, Deidara lifted one foot off the floor to shake it out, holding onto the puppeteer's mess of red hair as balance. With one out, he then repeated the action with his second foot accidentally slipping over and landing on the floor with a bump, managing to pull his partner a little way down in the process.

he hadn't bought the excuse? Obviously not, for he had decided to question the puppet's vision. Sasori decided not to comment on that, since it was easy enough to tell he iwasn't/i blind - he was pretty sure it was a rhetorical question, anyway. But the sarcastic tone annoyed the hell out of him. He was so very tempted to... Either drive his nails into one of Deidara's legs, or simply tell the brat to shut up. He did neither, however, simply letting out an annoyed grunt.

He twitched when the blond had the nerve to whack him in the head. Hmph, stupid brat, lucky he could friggin' feel that... "However, I still looked partially masculine. You looked like a flat-chested woman," he muttered, monotone tone spiced with a hint of irritation. Well, it was the itruth/i. If they'd been in ipublic/i dressed like they had been, as fairies, the brat would be the one mistaken for a female the most, he was sure of it. He'd even make a bet with Kakuzu on that.

But, anyway... The puppeteer 'hn'd when he felt a hand on his head, letting go of the trousers and placing his hands on the floor to keep himself from falling over or something. Such a thing would be somewhat disasterous, given that if he lost balance, the sculptor probably would, too... Apparently, the opposite of that scenario happened, to an extent.

Red eyes widened when the blond slipped over - the red-head would've been mildly amused about his partner's clumsiness, iif/i it hadn't been for the fact that the idiot still had his hand on his head. Thankfully he had put his hands on the floor, or he would've lost his own balance and wound up face-first on the floor - or... Somewhere else. Instead, he simply wound up on his knees, bent a little forward and head bowed slightly. Gah.

Sure, the last position had been awkward, but if anyone had the 'joy' of seeing them inow/i, they'd idefinately/i get the wrong damn impression. "Brat. Hand off my head. Now."

Whatever. Deidara liked making an effort in his appearance. And he quite liked looking feminine even if it usually resulted in people getting his gender confused. Surely they weren't blind and could see the lump on his neck that verified that he wasn't a woman but in fact a "slightly" girly looking dude. Well…maybe not "slightly." More like "a lot." Anyway. Sasori was pretty feminine too. As were a few other members of Akatsuki. But nothing compared to the blond. Eh, whatever. He was just being annoying again. Rise above it rise above it. Although he failed in rising above it when the red heard ordered him to let go of his head. He was all too willing to oblige. Well…he had been. Before the "b word" had been lovingly added to the end of the sentence. In response the blond held a fistful of messy red hair in his hand as tightly as he possibly could, almost praying for it all to be ripped out. And just to add to that, the puppet would be able to feel every single strand being pulled from his head and then flinch at each. Although, that probably wouldn't happen. Still, he pulled his partner's head up so cerulean eyes met with scarlet. 'I. Am. Not. A brat,' he said bitterly, trying his best to make spit fly from his mouth and land on the red head's pretty little face. 'My name is Deidara. Say it. Deidara. D.E.I.D.A.R.A. Not brat. Understand?' At that moment in time, even though only slightly, Deidara was very prepared to kill his partner. He'd only just told him he wasn't a brat hadn't he? Urgh, so rude of him. Okay, so he wasn't really going to kill him…he was just going to carry on latching onto the puppet's hair until he was sure he had got the message.

... iWhy/i wasn't the ibrat/i not letting go of his head? If Sasori wasn't mistaken, he was holding on more itightly/i, instead. Deidara was idamn/i lucky he had no physical sense of feeling. That, as well as his hair - luckily, it wasn't the sort to easily be ripped out. So he iwouldn't/i wind up with an annoying-as-hell baldspot where the blond's hand was currently latched on. Unless he intentionally tried to pull the hair out. In which case the puppet would, to put it bluntly, beat the sculptor enough to warrant a second trip to the hospital. Or... Maybe just hit him several times. iHard/i.

He glared venomously into his partner's eyes when his head was pulled up. Though he could only isee/i the spittle fly from the blond's mouth and more-than-likely land on him, just iknowing/i it was there was enough to irk him. He was iso/i very tempted to hit the idiot, anyway. However, he wanted the brat to let go of his hair, first. He didn't want the blond jerking his head around or anything.

Of course, he was damn well aware of what his partner's name was. He didn't need it spelled out for him. Really. If it were even possible, the intensity of his glare increased. Bah! He was inot/i saying it, nonetheless. Instead, he smirked, fully aware that it probably wouldn't exactly be wise - but what the hell. "I understand perfectly, ibrat/i. However, your name doesn't make you any less of a ibrat/i." And this time, he placed emphasis on each 'brat' he spoke. It was tempting to spell it out, too, but... He couldn't fit it in.

All right, so he'd admit it. He iliked/i pushing Deidara's buttons.

Hn…The puppet had obviously failed to get the message. Well…yes, he had got the message, but somehow he felt the need to carry on referring to Deidara as "brat." How ignorant. If anything he was the one behaving like a brat. It looked like he'd have to do something to get him to shut up. But what? Whilst keeping a firm grip on the red hair he started to wrack his brain out, thinking up a way to get his partner to finally stop calling him that disgusting word and maybe even stop his mean streak. Then it came. The blond's eyes narrowed and a smirk appeared over his lips. He moved the hand that had previously been holding tightly onto his hair down and shuffled forward in order to wrap his arm around the red head's neck. He then placed his left foot on the other's torso and began to push away from him, trying to pull the puppeteer's head off completely. Heck, it worked for Kakuzu didn't it? He was well aware that his partner could pull himself back together due to previous battles and things but another plan was forming in his mind to stop that from happening. It also appeared that pulling the wooden head off was easier said than done. Was it superglued on or something? 'If you dare call me a brat again I'll fucking burn your face off, un,' the sculptor warned, moving a little to see if using a different angle would help remove Sasori's head. Oh, how he prayed it would hurt him and be a bitch to replace later.

He was istill/i not letting go. Just a few minutes longer and the puppet would force him to in the most painful way - for the blond - that he could think of. Oh, yes. He'd give the bratty fool a real reason to go off to the hospi--- wait, why the hell was he smirking? ... And just what the ihell/i did he think he was doing!?

Sasori squirmed slightly due to the shift of positions, eyes widening considerably when his mind peiced together what the sculptor was going to do just seconds before said sculptor tried implementing it. Erk - thankfully his head was more strongly attached to his body than anything else, but it was istill/i able to come off. But there was no way in hell he was just going to sit there and ilet/i Deidara pull it off. He raised both his hands up to grab the upper part of the arm around his head, gripping it as tightly as he possibly could.

Well, this was a first. Now ihe/i was thankful he couldn't feel pain. There was no doubt this would hurt a hell of a lot if he could. He inwardly cringed at the little warning, outwardly growling. If there ever was a time he ialmost/i feared the blond, this would be it. All right, fine, he wouldn't call the idiot a brat anymore - he winced as he heard something in his neck snap when his partner shifted to try pulling his head off at a different angle. Not good. iDefinately/i not good. It would only be a matter of time before the idiot succeeded in his little task.

... Fuck it. Drastic times called for drastic measures, did they not? "Let. Go," the red-head managed to mutter, words venemous rather than monotone, for once. He spread his blade-wings threateningly off to the sides, careful not to get the blond with them - iyet/i, anyway. The cable in place of his stomach shifted almost restlessly. He was inot/i going to ilet/i the brat damage him iagain/i.

As Sasori began struggling his way out of Deidara's tight embrace as it were it only caused his arms to tighten around his partner's neck. He had no plans of letting go until he heard those two little words that were "I'm sorry" and perhaps some other things as well. When the puppet raised his hands to grab onto his own neck wrapping arm rather tightly the sculptor decided to just push against his chest again using his foot hoping that the prosthetic head would come flying off and hit the wall or something. Hm…what was he going to do once he'd managed to get it off? He could throw it in the garden? That would be quite fun seeing as it was still pretty muddy outside. But a much more sinister idea came to mind. Maybe he could try forcefeeding him some clay and perhaps even use some as some hair styling material. Hopefully by the end of this the red head wasn't going to be calling him brat for a long long time. That was what he was hoping for anyway. He blinked slightly at the growl he received from the threat. Heh, it'd obviously affected him somehow to get a reaction like that. The blond then smirked when he heard the snap coming from his neck, making him carry on switching angles and trying to ease it off. 'You're not going to call me a brat again, are you, un?' he asked almost tauntingly as he continued to pull. Though the grip significantly lessened when those blade like wings rose up. But it was still tight enough to make sure the puppeteer wouldn't be able to wriggle away. Shit. Surely he wasn't thinking of using them? 'Say you won't call me it again and I'll let go.'

Deidara was actually quite serious about trying to pull his head off, wasn't he? Then again, that much could've been discerned when he'd initiated the damn attempt in the first place. Though he was damn well determined not to let the idiot succeed. Who the hell knew what he'd do if he did? He ihad/i just threatened him, just not even a short moment ago, though that was for if he decided to call the idiot the 'b'-word again. And he was almost tempted to.

Actually, he'd make it a point to once he got out of this friggin' mess, assuming he hadn't 'pulled a Hidan', so to speak. The blond's renewed pushing, pulling and continuous changing of angles was, actually, working. Another rather loud isnap/i could be easily heard as another attachment gave way. Eugh. Just one good yank was all it would take now, he was sure of it...

His grip on his partner's upper arm increased at the near-taunting words. Hmph. As fucking iif/i. Maybe he'd use the word a little less, but he'd still use it. The puppet noticed the arm around his neck to loosen quite a bit - though not enough to pull himself free of the idiot, it was a start. "Hn..." He moved his blade-wings forward quickly and accurately, the blades on each spreading in a readying manner and, for non-living, sharp lengths of metal, looking quite anxious to tear into the sculptor's flesh.

All right. Sasori wasn't, if it came down to it, going to iseriously/i harm the blond. Scare him a bit, cut him up a little, make him bleed enough to warrant the need to use bandages? Yes. Cut him up into itty-bitty peices and give baggies of Dei-Bits to Zetsu for lunch the next day? No. "Let go now and I won't be forced to dismember you limb-from-limb, Deidara." There. He said the idiot's name instead of 'brat'. The stomach cable joined the duo of readied weapons, snaking out and slipping off to one side, as if it were getting prepared to wrap around the blond at any given moment.

It was decided. If Deidara succeeded in completely removing Sasori head he would cover every inch of it in a moderately thick layer of clay and then put it somewhere for a while. Say, the fridge? That would cause the clay to harden quicker and cause a little bit more annoyance to the puppet. And then he'd shove the wooden body in Tobi's bed, assuming he wasn't already asleep. Hm…sleep. Okay, once that was all done, he'd go to bed. That was if he succeeded. And judging by the loss of feeling in his arm, it didn't look like that was going to be the case. The blond could already feel the sharp and unpleasant feel of pins and needles making it's way through the lower part of his arm. Actually, maybe he would. That snap sounded quite encouraging. Just one more pull and it would hopefully be off. The grip loosened a lot more as the red head moved the blade like wings. Almost enough for his partner to wriggle away. Almost. His head wasn't that small, surely. Okay, the sculptor was worried that the puppeteer would end up hurting him again. Perhaps not knocking him out this time around. He was tired and didn't want to spend his time dressing yet another injury. He bit his lip at the threat. He wouldn't do that, would he? Well…he had poisoned him a few hours ago, so why wouldn't he? And with that, he let go, not really noticing that he had been referred to as "Deidara" instead of that sweet word that was "brat." 'Next time I will rip your head off,' he warned, shuffling away, flexing his hand, trying to get the blood flow normal again. Hm…How close was it to falling off? To check, Deidara grabbed the pillow off his partner's bed and chucked it at him, hoping his head would just fall off like a bowling ball being thrown at a skittle.

After this, if he still had his head, he was both going to call the brat a brat again, iand/i poison him in his sleep. With one of his really damn unpleasant, albeit inon/i-fatal poisons. This time. Screw the fact the blond's bloodstream was already swimming with different chemicals - they'd possibly only make the result even worse! Which would be a iplus/i. At least, for the puppet.

He inwardly smirked when he felt Deidara's grip loosen even more after he'd moved his blade-wings. Almost, almost, ialmost/i. Just a little more... He paused in pondering what he could do to make the sculptor's grip loosen enough so he could slip away when the blond let go after the red-head's little threat. He released the idiot's arm seconds after, hand immediately going to his head as he watched his partner shuffle away out of the corner of his eye.

Well, this sucked. He couldn't move his head. Apparently, he'd have to do some repairs before he did anything else that night... Hmph. It sounded like two of the attachments had let go, so it wouldn't take too long. At least it hadn't been all three... "Next time I'll see how much blood I can make you can lose before you pass out," he snapped back at the warning. "Then I'll add you to my collection." Yeah, he just had to use that as a threat. Puppetisation. Why not? It was always a danger if one was good-looking - or at least strong, with good techniques - and around the puppeteer. Especially when he was mad.

Just to irk the blond further, Sasori started to say the 'b'-word, getting as far as "Br-" when something collided with his head. A fucking ipillow/i?! Nonetheless, the jolt resulted in another loud isnap/i that could be heard as the head finally came loose. It would've fallen onto the floor had the living puppet not had his hand to it - he caught it before it fell.

Unlike Hidan, his body stayed mobile and 'alive' in such a situation. Given that was where his only human part was. He sat in shocked stillness for a moment before making a rather obscene gesture in the general direction of the blond. Luckily he knew where everything in the room iwas/i as well as how to repair himself blindfolded if need be. Plus, he could always just pull himself back together using chakra. But with his luck, the attachments would need a little manual touching-up. Eugh. Stupid brat...


	17. Chapter 17

OHGOD. If a bunch of funky-ass symbols show up throughout this I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED D: And I know it's in bad form but I'm just too lazy to pick through and change them... ..' Sorry!

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- Deidara wasn▓t too sure to make a smart comeback to that comment. He could but that would possibly make the experience (if it would actually happen) a whole lot worse. Plus, he was tired and didn▓t really want to get into another argument and evidently, end up sleeping in the bathroom for the second night running. Something he didn▓t really want. He liked his bed and didn▓t like the rather uncomfortable pain in the back of his neck sleeping against that horrible tiled wall brought about. At that moment in time, just after the pillow had been thrown he was more interested in what had been hiding under the pillow. That fairytale book again? The blond giggled, but it was cut short when the beginning of that awful word was. Argh, fuck it, he was going to rip Sasori▓s head clean off his shoulders and chuck it out of the window into the muddy mess that lay below and- Apparently he didn▓t need to do that. The pillow thing had actually done some damage! The sculptor almost cheered, but instead burst into a fit of giggles at his beheaded partner. ▒You look like the Headless Horseman, un!▓ he laughed. Well, it looked like the job was done, didn▓t it? There was no need to carry on seeing as the red head▓s head was finally off. Might as well wait until next time. He was tired and wanted to get ready for bed. Deidara moved over to his bed and picked up his oversized blue t-shirt, slipping it over his shoulders and smoothing it down slightly. Feh┘it was all creased┘he▓d get that sorted out eventually. He then headed for the bedroom door, turning the doorknob and exiting the bedroom, still giggling away. Luckily, the bathroom was empty. Meaning he was able to brush his teeth and do whatever other tasks he wanted without anyone else in the room. He▓d have to get used to only using one arm if it was going to be in a cast for a long period of time. Deidara then went back to the bedroom, flopping onto his bed. ▒I▓m going to sleep now, un,▓ he announced, even though it would most probably go unheard or┘the puppet probably wouldn▓t really care.

Thankfully for the blond, the red-head couldn't hear his comment about the Headless Horseman thing or the giggles at the moment. He was devoid of both sight and sound. Which was highly irking - it was this sort of thing the puppet loathed. Coupled with his lack of feeling, it felt like he was pretty much just a thought-bubble in the world. Which in itself was creepy as fuck. Yeah, he was iso/i putting Deidara through hell after he fixed himself.

Waiting a moment to orientate himself and remember where, exactly, he had been when the pillow had collided with him, Sasori stood up, handing his own head with care. Bah, he'd get over to his workstation and then focus on putting himself back together again. Ugh. That sounded like a line out of that one nursery rhyme that was oh-so popular amongst children when he was still one, though he could only vaguely remember it...

While the sculptor was out to the bathroom, the puppeteer had successfully managed in manuevering himself to his workstation with little-to-no trouble at all. It was easy - he just needed to count his steps, really... Find a wall, then walk along until he nearly tripped over something. Well, at least it worked, and soon enough, he was sitting, some odd tool in hand, tinkering expertly with the broken joints in his neck while using chakra both to guide him along the task as well as to help repair them.

He was more-or-less done by the time the sculptor returned to the room, though despite being able to hear and see again, iand/i speak, ignored him. He was busy plotting. And wondering if he had any needles small enough to inject any poisons into the blond without being noticed. Eh, he'd check when he was sure the brat was asleep... Until ithen/i, he'd stay in his little corner of the room, doing a bit of fine-tuning on himself. In other words, to avoid such an incident in the future, he was concentrating on strenthening the bonds of his joints, while also trying to keep them loose enough so that if he needed to, he'd be able to loosely let himself fall to peices and thus lessen the damage to said joints. Less stress and all.

Ah, now he remembered that horrid nursery rhyme. Humpty Dumpty.

So he was ignoring him now was he? Feh, whatever. He would eventually talk to him again. They were partners right? Going on missions and simply not talking just wouldn't work, would it? Sasori was now busy fixing himself. Urgh, the blond was hoping nothing bad would overcome him during his sleep. Like another nightmare. Maybe the puppet had been serious about poisoning him in the night. Oh, God! What if this was going to be his last night? No. Gotta think positive. He would never do that. Sure, he was twisted, but he wasn't that twisted┘was he? Deidara shook his head, trying to get rid of al the paranoid thoughts that were filling up his mind at an alarming rate. He then engaged in snuggling under the covers, Scorpling the plushie bird in hand. He moved himself slightly so the blanket was practically covering his entire head, save for a few strands of golden hair. Wait┘something was wrong. He sat up slowly, trying to think of what was wrong. Ah┘too bright. Slowly, the sculptor climbed out of his bed and made his way over to the other end of the room to switch the light of, not really giving a second thought that the puppet might have wanted the room to be illuminated. Screw him, Dei was tired! And wanted to get some well earned sleep for yet another eventful day. The last few days had been somewhat too eventful for his liking. Urgh┘hopefully the next day would just roll by fairly quickly. He wandered back over to his bed and once again snuggled underneath the duvet, closing his eyes, trying to think of something nice to start his dream off┘hm┘spiders┘that was a good beginning.

Patience, patience...

Sasori wasn't a patient person... Puppet. Though he had to wait 'til Deidara was asleep before he could really ido/i anything to him. Using a sleeping toxin crossed his mind, of course, but if the brat was awake to see him go over to the closet, he'd surely get suspicious. So, he waited. Impatiently. And worked on himself. He was pretty much finished by the time the blond got back out of bed. The puppeteer listened as the sculptor made his way over to the light switch, turning it off and thus killing the light before going back to bed.

Well, sure, it irked the red-head greatly. Though he reminded himself that he'd get his revenge, albeit for more pressing things, soon in the future. Plus it wasn't like working in the dark was particularly new to him or anything... He was used to it. And, the dark gave him more cover for what he was going to do, iany/iway, so in a sense, it was a igood/i thing that the light had been turned off.

He waited a short while longer before finishing up with his repairs and improvements before putting his tools back to where they belonged and standing. Casting a short glance over in the direction of the blond's bed, he smirked ever-so-slightly, quietly creeping his way over to his little closet and, ever so carefully, opening the door. The one thing that would be hard to in the dark would be to get the needles... Whatever. He stood on his tip-toes, searching about one of the higher shelves before inwardly sniggering with sadistic glee. He had iseveral/i jars of nonfatal, but fun, poisons.

Like the one based on belladonna. Not deadly - in the right amounts - but still unpleasant. And 'fun', as just one of it's many side-effects was delirium...

And then there was the one based off of quinine. But that one, if he remembered correctly, had the ipossibility/i of heart failure... Nah. He wasn't going to chance it.

Or lily-of-the-valley... Hm. That one could be 'fun', too, if he remembered correctly. Confusion and disgestive upset accompanied by an irregular heartbeat. Not exactly fatal, but definately not pleasant. And he had a bottle of extract just right ithere/i.

Belladonna or lily-of-the-valley... Delirium and a bunch of other stuff, or mental confusion and so on... Choices, choices. Screw it. He snatched the belladonna extract off of the shelf before crouching, rooting around for the smaller needles. Lily-of-the-valley was too tame. And if things went bad, he'd just give the idiot the antidote.

Deidara was dozing off by the time the puppet had decided to venture over to his cupboard for┘whatever it was he wanted to get. In this case, poison. Or poisons. Seeing as he was dozing off, his hearing was still working pretty well. He didn▓t hear the opening of the door, but he did hear the rooting around, causing cerulean eyes to creak open a tad, trying to make out what had disturbed him. As his eyes began to adjust with the gloom, he was able to see Sasori▓s silhouette over at his cupboard. Being discreet and as silent as possible, he moved the blanket away from his face to get a better view. What was he doing? The blond tilted his head to the side, his tongue finding its way out of his mouth and eyes scrunching up slightly, hoping that it would magically let him see properly in the dark. Even though there were two problems with that┘well, a few, but I▓ll state two. One, he wasn▓t some sort of predator that hunted for its dinner in the dark and two┘he didn▓t like carrots. Only when his partner crouched down did it finally click in the sculptor▓s mind what he was going to do. He was going to poison him. Shit! He moved the blanket back over his face as it had been before, his eyes scrunching up. No┘that wouldn▓t work. He▓d have to actually look asleep. Meaning his eyes would have to be closed lightly and his breathing would have to be slow and deep. Something hard to accomplish when you were scared as fuck and your heartbeat was increasing rapidly. Wait┘maybe it was just going to be like last time. A slightly unpleasant feeling followed by being knocked out┘and then he▓d wake up fresh as a daisy┘or maybe not┘maybe it▓d be worse. Urgh, he just hoped Sasori didn▓t notice that he was awake or something. Maybe he could reason with him and stop him from using the poison or something. Begging? That might work. He could always fight back┘but his partner was pretty capable of hurting him in pretty brutal ways. Similar to those displayed the night before.

Apparently the blond was awake and had seen him rooting around in the closet. Or at least heard him... However, Sasori didn't know this. He continued his search of the closet until he found what he was looking for; a small packet of equally small needles, which were already opened. He took one out, shoving it back into the closet before turning his attention to the jar. In a way that highly suggested he'd been through the same procedure many, many times before, he unscrewed the lid and dipped the needle-point into the liquid within, drawing some liquid up into it.

After which he put the lid back onto the jar and stood, placing it back on the shelf. He held the needle out infront of him, inspecting it carefully for air-bubbles - just incase, he held it needle-point up, squirting a tiny bit of the liquid and whatever bubbles were within, out. There. No chance of putting a bit of O2 into little Deidara's bloodstream along with all the other chemicals. He carefully closed the closet door, taking a step back before turning and approaching his partner's bed quietly. Hn... Something 'felt' off. He couldn't quite place it, but... He frowned thoughtfully, contemplatively as he stopped several feet away from the bed.

It was really starting to bug him. What was it?! The brat was asleep - or so he assumed, as the blanket was over his head and... He frowned, straining to listen for the blond's breathing pattern. It didn't quite match that of the usual sleeping human being's... That meant he was either having a nightmare, or he was awake, or wasn't normal and the puppet hadn't noticed the abnormalty until now.

He really didn't think it was the last one, a nightmare wouldn't be too surprising, and he didn't think the blond was awake, so... He shifted his weight from one foot to the other before stepping closer to the bed. Bah, he'd find out soon which it was, anyway. Afterall, he'd have to pull the blankets down a little icarefully/i in order to find a place to inject the poison, now, wouldn't he?

Just don't make a sound. Don't let him know you're awake. And then it'll be okay. Deidara's mind was racing. Sure, it didn't really occur to him that the poison that was going to be injected into him wasn't going to kill him┘just make things a little bit unpleasant. Similar to the previous one. But he was in a panic. And was finding it difficult to think straight. What should he do? He could reveal he was awake there and then┘but would that be a good idea? It could save him. He could go lock himself in the bathroom. Although┘maybe the blond deserved it. He had managed to pull the puppet's head off┘and not apologised. Aha! Maybe if he apologised he might be able to worm his way out of the situation. Footsteps. He was coming┘urgh. He unconsciously found himself curling up slightly, his only useable arm wrapping around his stomach tightly. Then it was silent. Had the red head stopped moving? All the sculptor could hear was his ever increasing heartbeat that seemed to have forced its way up into his throat. And what an awful feeling it was. And adding to that, it was becoming extremely demanding to keep his breathing pattern similar to that of someone in slumber. He was failing miserably too. More footsteps. He was moving again. Wait┘had he stopped? Cautiously and very slowly, Deidara turned his head to the side letting on eye open slightly. His partner was right there. He bit the inside of his lip, hoping it would prevent him from letting out a terrified squeal or something. Urgh, might as well just show he was awake. Anything to protect himself. The mess of blond hair seemed to disappear under the duvet completely as his body curled up into a tighter ball. A shaking ball. 'Go away,' he whimpered, eyes tightly shut. 'Leave me alone.' Not exactly the most persuading of words but it was the best he could think of at that moment.

Right, just a few more steps until he'd be close enough to intitiate the more risky part of this whole thing; searching for an injection spot. Easiest place would be the neck, though that would wake Deidara up for sure, if he was actually sleeping in the first place... Hnn... Did he really want to go through with poisoning the blond? There was always a chance things could go drastically wrong; wrong dosage, the chemicals already in his partner's bloodstream combining with the poison to create something worse, allergic reaction... But the idiot had been iasking/i for it, pretty much. At least he had been in Sasori's not-so-humble opinion.

He had stopped, and was just about to reach out in order to carefully pull the blanket down before he stopped that, too, watching as the blond moved. Specifically, he watched the sculptor submerge himself fully under the covers and, he guessed, curl up into a ball and... If he wasn't mistaken, he was shaking. Yeah, he was most definately awake. Or having a convienient nightmare. But by the words, he was awake.

The red-head stood there, needle in hand, just staring at the frightened form under the covers. A slight look of uncertainty crossed his features as the simple word 'pitiful' entered his mind. Ech, ithat/i again. Let's not forget that stupid little voice! ... Not Deidara's, but the stupid little thing that consituted as the small scrap of humanity Sasori had left. Which also doubled as his 'conscience'. Annoyingly enough.

It was pretty much taking his partner's side, too. Saying he ishouldn't/i go further and poison the poor brat, that he should just put the needle down and walk away - though not necessarily in that order. His eyelids drooped as he sighed in frustration. Bah, even his own thoughts were going against him! ... What else was new? This must be what it felt like for Zetsu when his halves had a disagreement...

Eugh. This... Sucked. His motivation to poison the blond dwindled to almost nothing as he crouched near the edge of the brat's bed, reaching his free hand up to rest in what he hoped was a comforting way on what he equally hoped was his partner's shoulder. He couldn't quite tell what with the lack of light and indistinguishability of the brat's body - it was pretty much just a somewhat roundish lump under the duvet, after all. "Do you hate me yet, Deidara?" His voice was monotone, as usual. That was what imost/i of his actions since that one moment were for, anyway. Some of them were out of anger, but... Whatever, right?

Okay, if the red head was going to carry on and try to poison him, all Deidara would have to was get out of the bed and escape from the room. Easy. He'd then return around half an hour later hoping that by then the moment would▓ve passed. If it hadn't, the bathroom would have to play as a bedroom again. All that was left to do now was wait┘and hope that Sasori wasn't going to go through with poisoning him after all. And what was he doing? He moved his head to see the blanket had been pushed down from above onto his upper thigh. Urgh┘the blond shifted his leg slightly upwards trying to move away from his partner's hand. Sure, the puppet probably didn't know which part of his body was where, thus he ended up placing his hand on his thigh, but it made him feel uncomfortable nonetheless. He moved his left hand, uncoiling it from around his body to try and push the wooden one away from him. He didn't need comfort. No┘he didn't want comfort. All he wanted was to go to sleep and be left alone. He lifted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes at the question. What the hell? He was still going on about the whole hating thing? 'No I don▓t, un,' the sculptor replied, his voice muffled due to the duvet on top of him. 'But if you inject me with that stuff then I'll probably be on the way to.' He had meant that in a way to try and persuade the human puppet not to do it, not to egg him on. Hm┘it wouldn't hurt to do a little more obvious persuading, would it? Carefully, as to not want to cause more damage to his arm, Deidara moved and pulled the covers away from his face. 'You're not gunna do it┘right?' ┘might as well add the whole thigh thing as well. 'And move your hand, please.'

Okay, that was definately not the brat's shoulder. Hell, that probably wasn't even close to his upper anatomy - at least it didn't seem like it when the blond started shifting and, the puppet assumed, trying to get his hand away from where. It was apparently making him uncomfortable... In which case, he was going to keep his hand there. For now.

Sasori frowned, going completely silent when Deidara began to speak. So, after poisoning him once, being mean and calling him 'brat' a lot, he still didn't hate him? Ah, but... The injection might allow him to succeed. So be it. Though he didn't quite want to anymore, he would carry on with his plan to put yet another chemical into the blond's body. Just pure belladonna extract... Easy to cure if he had to, and it was a natural poison, so it shouldn't react too badly with anything else...

The problem was now finding a site for injection. Since the blond was awake, the neck was now an option. However, if by chance the sculptor turned to avoid the needle, things could become... Messy and totally disasterous. And he doubted the needle would be able to get through the fabric of the blanket without breaking off. Hmm...

He frown deepened at the question and the request for his hand to be moved. Yeah, he was going to do it. His partner's having pulled the covers down a bit to expose his face would help him to do it, too. The puppet began sliding his hand up to what he was damn sure would be the brat's shoulder. In a non-verbal answer, he gripped the duvet and move to pull it up, the hand holding the needle flying up at the same time to hopefully embed the needle in flesh and not fabric.

Why wasn't he moving his hand? Was he just determined to make him as uncomfortable as possible? Either way, Deidara carried on in the pushing action, hoping that eventually it would work and his partner's hand would move. Even though it wasn't as bad as the whole "can you help me out of my trousers pleaseeeeeeeee" incident. But this was still pretty┘bad. Although, in another circumstance he might not be complaining about it or trying to push his partner's hand away. But of course, this wasn't the case. He awaited an answer quietly. The blond was pretty much wide awake now. Great. Just great. Now it was going to take even longer for him to get some well earned sleep. Well┘that was until he felt his eyes droop slightly. No, he couldn▓t just drop of now! Wait until Sasori had gone and then go to sleep┘but it was so hard. Obviously not as hard as he had thought when the puppet moved the blanket up in an attempt to shove the needle into him. In one swift movement, the blond sat up properly and grabbed a hold of the wooden hand, brandishing the needle inches away from his stomach. He sat there for a second, just holding his wrist tightly. The sculptor now had two options. He could tell his partner, calmly, not to do it and reconsider his actions. Or, he could just push his hand away completely and run off to the bathroom. ┘Feh, he wouldn't do either. Instead, he lifted the red head's hand upwards and pushed the bottom upwards, removing the liquid from the needle completely. Hm┘maybe that hadn't been a very smart move┘that stuff could▓ve got through his skin┘ 'I told you not to, un,' he said firmly, his eye never leaving the puppet's. 'So I'll say it again┘don't do it.' He was unsure whether to add an "you'll regret it" as well, but that might not be the case.

Well, that certainly failed. The puppet gave little to no resistance to having his hand stilled when the blond grabbed his wrist, staring almost unbelievingly at the distance between the needle and his partner's stomach; as if he were noticing what he was doing for the first time since he tried to... Well, do it. Although that wasn't the case, of course, as he knew quite well that he had been trying to poison Deidara.

Sasori's countenance darkened slightly when the needle was emptied of the poison, watching the liquid fall as best he could with the lack of lighting. Fortunately - or unfortunately - it was the sort of toxin that had to be injected to work. It might cause a bit of a rash if it got onto the brat's skin, but that was probably it. Hell, chances were, it wouldn't do anything, annoyingly enough...

He glanced up from where the liquid fell, glaring into the sculptor's eyes as the blond spoke. Bah! It was almost like an adult telling a kid not to do something. However, it would be more accurately the kid telling the adult not to do something. "Why shouldn't I?" Though he was sort-of unable to do it, now, even if he iwanted/i to, given that the needle was empty. Then again, he could always just refill it... But with his luck, it would be wasted. Again. Zetsu would certainly be curious if he showed up the next day asking if he had any belladonna growing anywhere. He'd only asked that same question... What, last week? And he wasn't one to waste poisons.

So, he let the question hang. Though he knew over a dozen reasons iwhy/i he shouldn't, he wanted to know what the blond would say.

If Deidara let go of Sasori's hand then there was that possibility of him going off to fill the needle up again with whatever poison had been inside it before. Well┘whatever it was it was making his hand itch slightly. It better not be some sort of allergic reaction. Heck, if it was he was very pleased with himself for stopping his partner from injecting all that stuff into him. He'd have to put something on that┘hm┘tomorrow. Hopefully that hand wouldn't be rendered useless too. Only having one useable hand was bad enough. Hm┘that was actually a good question. The sculptor couldn't actually think up any suitable answers as to why the puppet shouldn't poison him. One of which was "I'll have to buy more card to stick on the bottom of the chart." Not exactly the most persuading of exclamations. There was also the fact that there were still a lot of chemicals swimming around in his bloodstream. Injecting that poison could cause quite a lot of damage if a chemical reaction between them were to occur. Although┘that might make him want to poison him even more. Just to cause him pain and discomfort. He could always stick with the good old "I just don't want you to" but it wasn't exactly a proper answer. What could he say? It then occurred to the blond that his partner had only made that move to inject the needle into him after he had stated that he might be on the way to hating him afterwards. That was it! 'I won't hate you,' he said firmly. Which was pretty true. Unlike the red head, he found it pretty hard to hate someone he had feelings for.

While he waited for the blond to answer, the puppeteer rested his chin on the very edge of the bed, though he made sure not to break eye contact. He was, for once in his puppetesque life, feeling weary. Not in a physical sense, of course; but it was more of a mental thing. Meaning, instead of sleep, he just wanted to curl up and do something mind-numbing. Like, for example, watching some stupid kid's show or reading a very dull book. Anything that would keep any sort of intelligent thought from happening.

Sasori's glare softened to just a slightly miffed look at Deidara's answer. He was beginning to think it was impossible to make the brat hate him... "Why won't you?" Furrowing his brows, he made a half-assed attempt at pulling his hand out of the sculptor's grasp before he continued speaking. "I've told you I hated you, I've been as mean as I dared to get - I've even poisoned you, brat. And just now I tried to poison you again!" What the hell was he doing iwrong/i?! Any sane person would utterly despise him by now!

... Then again, the various members of the Akatsuki weren't exactly known for their sanity, were they? "What do I need to do to get you to hate me?!" Hey, there was no better way to find out then to just iask/i, although it sort-of came out as more of a demand than a question. Not like it mattered to him - he was feeling as frustrated as a puppet could feel. And given that puppets weren't isupposed/i to feel in the first place, that was more than enough to make him highly agitated.

Deidara was gradually beginning to think that Sasori wasn▓t going to poison him this time around. He moved his hand slightly and pulled the emptied needle from his grasp, throwing it across the room, away from both of them. Sure, there were obviously more where that came from, but it helped if it was as far away from him as possible. What if he ended up being stabbed by it? Still, he kept a grip on his partner▓s hand, a somewhat concerned look across his face. What was wrong with him? Yeah, the puppet had only put his chin on the bed┘but something didn▓t seem right about it. The blond was about to reach out and pat his head when he spoke. ▒I┘▓ Wait┘more speaking. He waited. Out of politeness. He respected his partner after all, right? Plus, he wanted to hear him out before replying him. He had taken note of the sudden surge of rather mean activity on the red head▓s part. So that▓s what it was all about. He was trying to get the sculptor to hate him. When the puppet finally stopped talking all he could do was grin, which hopefully went undetected in the gloom. Deidara leant forward slightly and lifted up his partner▓s chin off the bed sheets. S▓pose he was going to have to answer┘but maybe he▓d try making him guess a little. ▒I think you know why, Danna,▓ he sniggered. ▒Actually┘I know you know why. It▓s not that hard to figure out, un!' Which was true. If Sasori was unable to guess the correct answer to his little question he▓d go ahead and answer it for him.

The red-head barely acknowledged when the needle was pulled from his grasp and thrown across the room. The sound of the glass shattering when it hit was, strangely enough, almost musical, to his ears. Though his agitation grew slightly when it occured to him that one of his needles had just been broken. Not like he used them more than once or twice, but still.

After he had finished his little rant, Sasori waited impatiently for a response. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long... He didn't notice Deidara's grin, as he was more focussed on his partner's eyes. Though he did notice when the blond leant slightly forward due to the mattress shifting - but it came as an utter surprise when the blond lifted his chin off of the sheets.

The sculptor was still willing to touch him? ... The puppeteer's expression shifted to one of mild confusion at his partner's words. He knew why...? He went silent for a short moment, thinking. Why, then? If it wasn't that hard to figure out, then... Why icouldn't/i he figure it out? He wrackek his brain - or, thoughts, at least - for an answer, coming up empty. If he supposedly knew the answer, he must have forgotten it or something... "I don't know why," he muttered, sorely tempted to add the ever-so-lovely 'b'-word, though he resisted the urge to.

Yeah, at the moment, he was totally clueless.

It wasn▓t as if Deidara was expecting Sasori to come up with the correct answer. But he had been hoping for an answer. He got neither. Looked like there▓d have to be a bit of explaining to do. And explaining this sort of thing wasn▓t exactly what he particularly liked doing. It was awkward and usually ended up being thrown back into his face. Well┘it had been last time, hadn▓t it? He seemed to have completely forgotten how tired he was. All thoughts of what had happened before had been pushed aside. All that mattered was wording the answer correctly and not in a way which would wind up being completely and utterly disastrous. The sculptor took a deep breath and closed his eyes. ▒Remember earlier when I told you that I couldn▓t understand how you could hate me and have feelings for me, un?▓ he asked cautiously. ▒It▓s coz no matter how much I try┘no matter how much you▓re mean to me or hurt me I can▓t hate you.▓ He paused rethinking it. Would it be wise to use the ⌠l■ word again? There weren▓t exactly in the best of moods together at that moment in time so maybe it would be best (and safer) to leave it at that. For now at least. ▒But that doesn▓t entitle you to beat the crap out of me and be mean to me all the time, un,▓ he blurted out quickly.

... He hated being totally clueless. He hated not knowing something he was isupposed/i to know. He hated not being able to physically feel his partner. He also hated not knowing where the previous thought came from. However, when the blond started to speak again - yes, he remembered that - he didn't know if he still hated Deidara, or if it had actually been hate in the first place. But those thoughts were best left until later, where he could muse on them alone, so as not to get irritated at 'someone'.

Sasori nodded slightly, and frowned as the blond continued. So, his being mean and all was pointless? That's what it sounded like... So continuing his more mean than usual behaviour would be pointless, as well. The puppeteer inwardly sighed, both in relief and disappointment; moreso the former than the latter. His 'feelings' were mixed. He both did and didn't like being cruel to his partner - he was sadistic, though part of him didn't like carrying out those odd urges on the sculptor. Hm.

He smirked at the last, quickly-blurted sentence. Of course it didn't. Bah. "... I see." He brought his free hand up to where the blond still gripped his other, making a deceptively gentle try at prying his fingers away. "You 'can't' hate me, hm?" There was a moment's pause before the puppet continued. "If you tell me why, I'll stop trying to prove that wrong."

Deidara was beginning to realise why Sasori ended up getting so annoyed by him asking so many questions. The tables seemed to have turned now and he was pretty much prepared to tell his partner to just shut up and go carry on messing around with that fairy puppet he▓d been making┘or go read that silly book again. It did look like he was pretty attached to it anyway and he had been making an effort to keep it hidden under his pillow. As the red head brought up his free hand to try and pry his fingers away from his hand, in response, he moved his bad arm to cover it in an attempt to stop him. ▒No. I can▓t,▓ the sculptor began. ▒You know the answer to that too,▓ he added, grinning. Hm┘maybe it would be wise to tell him the answer straight away instead of just letting it hang like last time, in case he claimed he didn▓t know again. He just wasn▓t thinking in the right areas. Perhaps the last explanation had opened up that area. But another good reason to tell the puppet straight away was to stop all this abuse. He had just said that he▓d stop trying to prove him wrong if he told him, hadn▓t he? So maybe it would work. The blond was getting considerably fed up with constantly being verbally and physically damaged by his partner. He took a deep breath and sighed. ▒It▓s coz┘▓ Why was it so hard to say? He▓d said it before. Why not now? Was he scared? Scared of being used again? Come on! ▒It▓s coz I love you┘un┘▓

Sasori's expression turned back to it's usual apathetic mask when Deidara moved his bad arm to cover his had that was trying to pry said blond's fingers from the red-head's wrist. Why wouldn't he let go? Though it worked, the puppeteer stopped trying to get his partner to release his grasp. For the moment. It wasn't like he had any more toxin-filled needles on him or anything... And he wasn't going to try to poison the brat again. Hn.

And he didn't know the answer to that! He shook his head, though it was probably a useless motion due to the darkness, before looking off to one side. How was he supposed to know the answer to something he was pretty damn sure he didn't know? Stupid, cryptic little brat. Couldn't he just give a straight answer instead of saying the puppet already supposedly knew? Fortunately, yes, he apparently could.

He kept his gaze off to one side when he heard the sigh - he guessed he was looking at a wall. Or a table or... Door. Whatever. Everything looked the same in the dark; black, faint outlines... Anyway... 'It's coz' what? He frowned at the little pause; it was enough to cause him to look back to the blond while he waited for the sculptor to continue.

... There was that 'l'-word again. Now it was his turn to give a quiet, little sigh. 'Love'. A stupid human emotion... Feeling. Feelings. The puppet could feel - hate, anger, irritation, being the usual - it was only logical that he could feel... That one. Right? Which, in turn, brought up the question - did he love the blond? Like, yes. He was sure of that. Love? ... He didn't even remember what that felt like; he wouldn't know.

He was silent for a moment longer before finally deciding to say something. Albeit a quiet something. "... I wish I could feel the same way."

After saying that it was proving to be evermore difficult for Deidara to keep his eyes on his partner. Instead, he moved them slightly, so they were just passing him. Hopefully this would go unnoticeable in the dark. His hand was getting a lot itchier now. Maybe it would be a good idea to go get it sorted out now rather than waiting until morning. There was also the worrying fact that if some of the poison managed to find its way into one of his palm mouths the consequences would be disastrous. What happened if by then it had swelled up to the size of a balloon? Whatever poison had been in the needle wasn▓t exactly on the pleasant side┘though then again, poisons aren▓t exactly known for being ⌠pleasant■ are they? He remained silent, awaiting an answer from the red head. He had been expecting something spiteful like ⌠blah blah blah I▓m mean blah blah blah no feelings blah blah blah brat■ so when the response finally arrived it came as a bit of a shock. The blond▓s eyes widened and his mouth fell open slightly. Thank goodness they were in the dark otherwise he would▓ve looked like a complete idiot in front of him. The grip on the wooden hands tightened for a second, only to let go of them completely. He shuffled back slightly and moved his eyes to the wall. Urgh, that annoying feeling in his stomach was back with a vengeance and was now accompanied by a lump in his throat. The sculptor swallowed hard. ▒I┘▓ he began still unsure of what to say. ▒I need to go wash my hands, un.▓ He quickly climbed out of bed and hurried for the door. Yeah, he did want to wash his hands, but he was so overcome with confusion he didn▓t know what else to say in response to something like that. The puppet wanted to feel the same way? After all that trouble?

The slight shift in the blond's eyes almost went unnoticed by the red-head. iAlmost/i. He idid/i notice it, though he didn't think much of it - looking away, averting one's eyes, and variants of seemed to be commonplace with him and the brat, afterall.

What the puppeteer idid/i notice, however, was a change in his partner's expression after he'd said what he'd said. Though he couldn't exactly make out what the look on Deidara's face iwas/i, exactly. Stupid low-lighting - eh? Sasori blinked slowly when the sculptor's grip on his hands tightened, then disappeared. He let his now-free hands rest on the edge of the bed, head tilted slightly when the blond shuffled back a little. Okay, he hadn't been expecting that sort of a reaction... Really, he didn't know iwhat/i he was expecting.

... Why did he need to go... Oh... Right. The poison. He must have gotten some on his hands when he emptied the needle. The puppet frowned, noting that it could also double as a convienient excuse to get away... Though he didn't make a move to stop the blond when he heard the tell-tale creaking of the bed when the brat got out of it. Or the hard to mistake foot-steps heading towards the door. Maybe he was allergic to it or something?

At the moment, he didn't know what to feel, just as he hadn't known what he had been expecting. Thus, he just crouched where he was, silent, watching the faint outline of the retreating blond.

... Hm. Perhaps he should find the antidote after he was gone. Just in case...

There was a small part of Deidara that was kind of hoping for Sasori to call after him. Just something like ⌠I hope your hand▓s okay.■ No┘he would never say anything like that. He was kidding himself again. As he opened the bedroom door, the room was momentarily illuminated. He left it ajar before heading for the bathroom. It also looked like it had been completely neglected by Itachi. Actually┘judging by all the skin products scattered on the countertop he▓d just left momentarily. Upon looking in the mirror, the blond sighed. His face had taken on a rather hot pink tinge, making him look an awful lot like a beet root. Maybe it would be best to wait for the blush to have calmed down a little before going back to his and the puppeteer▓s bedroom. After thoroughly washing his hands he then made a move for the cabinet, searching for some hand cream or something to calm down the inflammation and stop his hands from itching so much. He applied a rather large amount to his palms and began to smoth it over his skin. It actually smelt quite nice, but judging by the noises his little mouths were making it didn▓t taste as good as it smelt. Sometimes he was pretty glad he was unable to taste whatever entered his palm mouths. What if clay ended up tasting really disgusting? It would put him off using it for life. Once the sculptor had finished that task, he left the bathroom and wandered back in the direction of the bedroom, Hand hovering over the doorknob, he took a deep breath before entering and closing the door behind him. Another ⌠talk■ might be awaiting inside. Not really looking around the room for the red head, he padded over to his bed and sat down, recalling everything that had happened before he had left the room. Would it be wise to bring it all up again?

Only after Deidara had left did Sasori stand. The puppet was still for a moment, before he turned, quickly heading over to his little closet. It was a ihell/i of a lot more easy to navigate it's innards, he noted after opening it, with the bedroom door ajar, even if it was only a little light. It was just as easy to locate the belladonna antidote; sitting on a shelf just across from the poisons themselves, having never been opened... At least that's what it seemed like. When he took it off the shelf, the cover was full of dust, and there was a dead spider on top of it. Blech.

Blowing off both the dust and the dead arachnid, he closed the closet and headed over to his bed. Eh... He'd just leave it there - in plain sight, where his pillow was isupposed/i to be. Hey, wait... Ugh. The brat had seen the book, hadn't he. Whatever. He took up the book, replacing it with the antidote before heading straight for the door. He didn't want to be there when the sculptor got back for two reasons; one, he wanted - ineeded/i - a place where he could blank out his mind for a while. Two, his partner probably needed rest. So it would be best to leave him alone, right?

He was quietly on his way down the stairs by the time the blond had returned to the room. Maybe he could go 'haunt' the basement for the night... It was quiet, he could just turn the light on, and save for the rats, he'd be alone enough to think clearly. Or, better yet, not at all. Children's stories would be enough to numb his mind, right? Disregarding the fact that that stupid Rumple-whatsit had him wondering why a gnome would want a human kid. But... That's besides the point. Surely it had something more boring within?

Or something delightfully distracting enough to keep his mind from drifting back to oh-so recent discussions. Why had he said what he said? It was the truth. Though perhaps, for sake of not being awkward as hell, he should've just not said it... But it was too late now, now, wasn't it?

It was only when Deidara had switched his bedside lamp on and turned around to move the blanket out of the way for him to settle back down when he noticed the jar on Sasori▓s pillow. Odd. He slowly got up and walked over to it and picked it up, examining it. Hm┘according to the label it was a belladonna antidote┘whatever that was. Wait! Antidote? He paused, smiling slightly. The puppet had been kind enough to leave out the antidote for him. Even though he was pretty sure that the problem had been sorted. Unless it turned out that he had been allergic to the poison after all. Then some other thoughts began to cross the blond▓s mind. What if it was just another poison and the read head was still trying to get him? But if that was so, why had he said that before. He was beginning to regret leaving so soon. They should▓ve talked a bit more┘nevermind. He▓d talk to him about it tomorrow. Or later on if it just so happened to have passed midnight already. Carefully, he unscrewed the lid. Ah, wait┘how was he meant to use it? Was he meant to put it on his skin? Drink it? There was no way he was injecting it. He knew close to nothing about poisons┘meaning he▓d have to ask the puppeteer about that too. With that settled, he put the lid back on the jar and placed it back on his partner▓s pillow. There came a coughing sound from his hand. The sculptor stared at his palm as it carried on coughing. Hm┘that jar was dusty. He moved back over to his bed and snuggled back under the covers, searching around for his plushie. Hopefully his sleep wouldn▓t be disturbed again before he had to wake up.

Hm. It looked like he was the only one do-- oh, wait, a light was on in the kitchen... Sasori crept towards the kitchen doorway, peering in - Zetsu, holding a potted venus flytrap in one hand, and what the puppet could only iguess/i to be some left over body part from some unlucky bastard in the other. The plant man, despite having been facing the doorway, didn't seem to notice him; actually... It looked and isounded/i like the cannibal was talking quietly to the little plant in an almost trance-like state.

... Okay. Moving along. The puppeteer left the doorway and headed towards the basement, entering quietly and going down the stairs. Carefully, so as not to fall. At the bottom, he switched on the light and high-tailed it to the little cranny underneath the stairs, sitting on the uncomfortably hard floor and leaning back against the wall. Thankfully without a sense of physical feeling he couldn't tell the difference between it and a bed - aside from the fact that beds gave while floors didn't. Anyway...

He immediately started trying inot/i to think, opening the fairy-tale book and staring at the pictures for a moment. A large, red-cap, white-spotted mushroom with several fairies and ifrogs/i dancing around it graced the page, though it was in the middle of a tale so he couldn't tell the name. Not like it mattered - he picked a paragraph and started reading, anyway.

Tomorrow, he decided, he'd try to avoid Deidara as much as puppetly possible. Partly because he didn't want to talk about certain things that would undoubtedly be brought up, and partly because he iliked/i the quiet. No one went down into the basement much, anyway. Avoiding him would be easy enough.

One minute. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes passed before Deidara sat up in bed, his good hand clutching his forehead. What was going on? His brain just wouldn▓t switch off. No matter how hard he tried, he failed to find himself dozing off to sleep. Sure, it had been a pretty eventful day once again, but still┘wasn▓t that all the more reason to sleep it off? He remained in that position for a couple more minutes before groaning in annoyance. Fuck it. He was going to go track Sasori down. He couldn▓t▓ve gone too far, could he? Getting out of bed and clutching scorpling▓s left wing, the blond shuffled towards the door, being careful not to stub his toes on some object that was invisible in the darkness of the bedroom. Once he had managed to find the doorknob he twisted it, opting the door. Wait┘the antidote problem could be solved if he managed to find the puppeteer. He made his way back over to his partner▓s bed, retrieving the dusty jar and once again walking over to the door. This proved to be much easier due to the room being illuminated significantly thanks to the open door. Hm┘the fairytale book had magically disappeared. No doubt the book had been taking along to wherever the red head was. Right. First place to check would be the living room. Then the kitchen┘hm┘he could▓ve gone down to the basement┘ The sculptor opened the door to the living room slightly. Hm┘odd┘it was empty. Okay, so the puppet hadn▓t hidden in there. And he certainly wasn▓t in the kitchen. The voice coming from there was Zetsu▓s┘but his talking had no response┘ That left the basement. Deidara made his way down the stairs and opened the door slowly, peering in. ▒Danna?▓ he called out. ▒Are you in here, un?▓

The fairytale with the frogs in the picture had been... Generic, at best. About some random fairy queen and her gathering being found by this one human brat who danced with them 'til they had to go... Or something. He hadn't really been paying attention to the words. The fairytale after that one had been about three animals playing instruments... Then 'The Mountain Men'. He didn't pay much attention to those two, either, focussing more on the pictures. If only because they were just... Odd, most of the time.

And, they served their purpose. They stopped any intelligent thought from forming. Instead he found himself wondering what the hell the illustrators were on when they came up with those pictures. Then again, if he actually read the stories, he'd probably find out - but... Meh.

Time iand/i pages passed at a quick rate for the distracted Sasori. He didn't notice he was almost a quarter of the way through the book until Deidara's voice interrupted his dumbed-down thoughts, bringing them back to 'life', so to speak. Eugh... Well... There went iavoiding/i him. Surely it couldn't be morning already? If only there was a clock. Bah, he'd have to buy one for the basement next time he was in a village. A clock and umbrellas and the Ring 2 movie he had forgotten.

Now came the question - to answer the brat, or not to answer the brat! If he stayed as silent as he could, the blond would go away. But... Eh. Whatever. The only reply to the inquiry was the sound of a page turning - whether he heard it or not, the puppet didn't really care.

According to the lack of sound that came in response, apparently the basement was empty. But according to the shadow that had been cast, there actually was someone in there┘or was that just the remnants from the ⌠scare Tobi fest■ the day┘or day before yesterday. Bleh, whatever. It had happened and that was enough. Deidara walked further into the room and looked around. Aha! There he was! ▒Danna?▓ he called out again, grinning slightly. ▒You never replied,▓ he pointed out. He walked over to his partner. As he approached he noticed that, sure enough, the fairytale book had been dragged downstairs after all. And it was being read. Or looked at, he couldn▓t really tell from that distance. Once the blond was about a foot away from Sasori he sat down, placing his plushie in his lap and holding out the dusty jar of┘whatever it was. ▒You left this out┘and I wasn▓t really sure what it was or what to do with it, un,▓ he explained, removing a small bit of dust off the lid with his index finger. ▒So I thought I▓d find you and ask you about it.▓ He wouldn▓t bring up the whole point of him being unable to sleep yet. Heck, maybe they could even get some stuff sorted out. It would be better then just leaving it and letting it get worse. The sculptor would just wait to see if the red head was in the mood to talk about such things. And to add to that┘he really wanted to see what the hell was to interesting about that book.

Oh, look, a pageful of barely clothed and naked fairies... On the page just beside it was 'The Fairy Cake'. He glanced back to the picture - what the hell did that have to do with--- oh... There was a cake on the bottom of the page. No doubt it was just an excuse to draw lots of naked females - and he was sure he could pick out a few males, there, too...

The puppet twitched when he heard footsteps coming further iin/ito the room rather than away and outright cringed when Deidara spotted him, though it was quickly covered up with the usual apathy. "I know," he mumbled in reply to the obvious fact. Of course he knew. He iwas/i the one that hadn't replied... Seconds before the blond sat down, the red-head dog-eared the page he was at and quickly closed the book.

Only then did he looked up from it to stare at the sculptor. The puppeteer blinked slowly when he noticed the dusty jar. Eh? Why did he drag that along with him? ... Oh. Right. He should've left instructions or something with it, though he probably hadn't had time enough to find a peice of paper and write them down, anyway. "... It's the antidote for the poison I was going to inject you with." He was saying it all as if it were ithe/i most obvious thing ever. "I left it out just incase. It needs to be injected for it to be effective." Though to use it properly, one had to drain most of the poison out of one's bloodstream or get one's stomach pumped depending on how the poison was initially taken, but... Nah, he'd spare the brat those details.

Then again... There was a chance enlightening his partner to such little technicalities would scare him away. In which case the little conversation would end and nothing at all could possibly brought up... But... No, he'd just see where the conversation went and ithen/i bring it up if it suited his needs.

Hm┘so he▓d been ignoring him? How sweet. Sarcasm intended. Deidara couldn▓t help but feel a little disheartened by at the fact that his partner had been ignoring him. Was he trying to avoid him or something? Maybe Sasori went down to the basement because he wasn▓t really expecting him to find him there. Although that notion had been proved wrong. He watched as the puppet closed the book. Oh┘so he wasn▓t going to carry on reading? Okay, that was good. At least the blond wouldn▓t have to carry on being ignored. Or was he? Bah, whatever. He▓d been awake for too long to think about such complex things. And the stuff in the jar had been the antidote after all. The sculptor was about to ask his partner to use some on him, but was interrupted by the application method. Needles again? Urgh. ▒Uhm┘I▓ll pass, un,▓ he mumbled in response. He▓d only use the antidote if the poison began to take effect. Damn, why did antidotes have to have equally unpleasant ways of application? Couldn▓t he just drink it or something? Hm┘maybe that would cause a fair bit of damage too┘ He shuffled closer slightly, biting his lip from the inside again. ▒I couldn▓t sleep┘▓ he mumbled sheepishly. He needed to keep a conversation up otherwise the tension would begin to rise again. All the more reason to feel awkward.

After this, he was going to have to find a new hide-away spot. Since the blond had stumbled upon ithis/i one, he couldn't exactly use it to get away and keep away from his partner, now, could he? Maybe the ro--- no. Hell no. Hm. Did they have an attic...? He wasn't entirely sure, but he was going to go check and see later on, since now he was sort-of curious. Maybe that's where Leader and that blue-haired person hung out. In which case he'd have to go search for some other place...

Sasori somewhat smiled condescendingly at Deidara's response to the way the antidote was administered. Of course, he should've guessed. The brat didn't like needles... Okay, so the only person in the entire organization who probably idid/i like needles was Hidan, but that was besides the point! He decided not to comment on that - the only thing he could think of, anyway, was, as usual, something fairly mean - and simply stared at the sculptor, waiting for him to say something el-

... Hm. So that's why he'd sought the puppet out. Hopefully that was the ionly/i reason. "There should be sleeping pills in the bathroom," he pointed out bluntly. Hell, he probably had some sort of sleeping toxin kicking around in his closet, though he was pretty damn sure his partner wouldn't want to try ithat/i. The red-head either didn't notice that the blond had shuffled a little closer, or just didn't care - as long as he didn't get itoo/i close, he was fine. Though the 'little slice of human' left in him wanted to allow it - and then some - but... When the hell did he ever listen to that thing? All right. Fine, there had been one or two times... But they didn't count! ... In his opinion.


	18. Chapter 18

Sleeping pills. That was a much more pleasant option than being hit over the head or something. Sure, it would work┘but it would hurt like hell. The only problem with using sleeping pills would be any chemical reactions between the pills and whatever other substances were still in his blood┘although there was still the chance that their effects might have worn off and they weren▓t as concentrated as before┘still, Deidara wasn▓t going to risk it and shook his head in response. Surely there was something he could drink, like warm milk with sugar in it. Or he could just stick to the good ol▓ wait-until-you▓re-so-exhausted-that-you-fall-to-sleep-naturally remedy. Hm┘that was probably going to end up being his last resort anyway. His mind was beginning to wander back to what Sasori had said to him earlier. ⌠I wish I could feel the same way.■ It was still all sinking in. He wanted to love him? No┘he wished he could love him. The blond edged forward a little more. Why did his partner have to be so confusing all the time? He was like a walking talking puzzle with a bajillion pieces that▓d been all chewed up. So much so, that it was so hard to solve that puzzle. ▒Danna?▓ the blond mumbled, moving forward and wrapping his good arm around the red head. He was blushing now, regretting the decision he▓d just made. Urgh, just go for it. It couldn▓t hurt┘unless the puppet decided to hit him or something. ▒I wish you could feel the same way too, un,▓ he whispered. 

So it was a 'no' to the pills? That meant the blond wasn't going to go off to find them. Which, in result, meant he was going to stay in the basement. Which ialso/i meant 'that' had more of a chance of being brought up... Great. Perhaps he could just put the sculptor to sleep using... Alternate methods which required some sort of blunt, heavy object. Or maybe not. He'd probably just end up giving him a concussion or something instead of achieving the intended goal.

Sasori frowned just slightly at the silence that followed. Silence usually meant thinking - what was Deidara thinking about? The puppet fidgeted - inaudibly tapping a finger against the book in his lap while waiting for the blond to say something. Anything. Just hopefully unrelated to ithat/i. He watched his partner edge forward a little more, a distrustful look alighting in his red eyes. Why, exactly, was he getting icloser/i? Bit-by-bit...

Finally, the silence was broken. He cocked his head to one side when he heard the common substitute for his name. "Hm?" The brat was moving forward again... This time a little itoo/i much so. The puppeteer tensed as good as a puppet icould/i when the arm was wrapped around him, brows furrowing at the whispered words before his expression softened a bit. He didn't move to push the blond away, or to get away from him; he simply sat still for a moment before leaning forward slightly and snaking an arm around his partner, as well.

All right, so there iwere/i times he listened to that stupid little human conscience on purpose. The red-head was silent, noting the blond's blush before inclining his head slightly and smiling a little.

So being 'too close' wasn't as overly unpleasant as he thought it was going to be this time. Whatever.

In an attempt to prevent himself from being pushed away from the embrace, Deidara had tightened his grip onto his partner, which would hopefully go unnoticed. He couldn▓t physically feel, right? It wasn▓t exactly the most comfortable of positions, but he still found his face sinking into Sasori▓s shoulder. It was so comfortable. Blue eyes opened a fraction as he felt the other▓s arm wrap around him in response. The blond found his mouth open too, in order to ask a question, but nothing came out. Nothing but a content sigh as his other arm moved to clasp around the puppet. Rethinking it over, there wasn▓t exactly the need to ask any questions, was there. Sasori was right┘it didn▓t matter. How could he have only just realised this now? Was it because he was tired? Why hadn▓t he made the better of the previous time the red head had decided to return his hug? The sculptor just had to break down into tears. Okay, yes he had been upset but it seemed to be getting increasingly harder for him to keep it all inside. Especially after all that had happened between himself and his partner in such a short space of time. But that didn▓t matter now. The blond was pretty happy with just having his hug returned. There was so much he wanted to ask, but his eyelids were proving to be just a tad too heavy for him, preventing him from doing such things. They drooped closed and his head flopped slightly to one side letting a yawn escape from his lips. ▒You▓re comfy, Danna┘.un.▓

The tightened grip did go unnoticed, though the head - or face - on his shoulder didn't. He couldn't feel it, of course, but he could see it, and he stared for a moment before giving a mental shrug. Eh. If the blond found it comfortable, what did it matter?

At the content sigh from his partner, Sasori closed his eyes in thought. It didn't seem like Deidara was going to go back up to the room any time soon. That probably meant he was going to spend a while - or the whole friggin' night - in the basement, with him. That meant he'd get no reading done. Not like ithat/i mattered much, since he had only been reading it in order to keep himself from thinking about a few things... The main one of which had already been brought up, so he didn't need to worry about it much anymore. But, still...

The puppeteer blinked owlishly at the yawn before grunting at the little statement. Comfy? Great. He shifted slightly, unoccupied hand moving to fish the book out from between them before encirlcing the blond. He put the book down on the floor, so he could just lean forward and read it over the sculptor's shoulder when he wanted to. "... Good. Just hope you don't snore, brat," he mumbled, reaching a hand up to run through the blond's hair. Yeah, there was the 'b'-word again. Though it wasn't said in a particularly mean way - if anything, for the puppet, it was said teasingly. Playfully, even.

As Sasori moved that book out of the way, Deidara also shifted slightly so he was practically sitting in his partner▓s lap. It was better and leaning forward, cross-legged after all, right? Now that he was thinking about it, he would probably end up waking up with a sore neck. That was if he wasn▓t going to be sent back upstairs later on, which in his mind was pretty likely. Then again┘the red head was hugging him back, and that was quite a good sign. He grinned slightly, his eyes creaking open a tad. ▒If I do wake me up, un,▓ he mumbled, his words slightly slurred. The blond snuggled closer to the puppet, blushing slightly. For once he wasn▓t frustrated by the fact that he had been called ⌠brat■ again. Was it by the way it had been said? Was it because he was tired? Well, whatever the reason was, it was pretty lucky for the puppeteer that he wasn▓t in the mood to try and pull his head off again. There was that tickly feeling again. Was he playing with his hair again? Deidara tilted his head to the side to check, and sure enough, he was. ▒I love it when you play with my hair, un,▓ he giggled happily. Awh, he better not stop after that comment.

The puppet frowned at the shift in his partner's position. All signs clearly pointed to him playing the part of a weird sort of pillow that night - not like his own actions helped abate such a conclusion. Oh well... Not like he really had anything better to do. Aside from the usual puppetry and the other things he had been iplanning/i on doing... But those things could wait. It wasn't like inanimate objects could just sprout legs and run off somewhere, though it might seem so sometimes.

Heh. If Deidara started snoring, Sasori would probably do more than just wake him up. At least if he started doing so right in his ear or something. "Mhmm." He noted the lack of reaction to what was slowly becoming a sort of petname, as well as the fact that the blond was isnuggling/i closer. He was made of wood - surely he couldn't be ithat/i comfortable? ... Mmph. Oh, well. Wasn't like the red-head was going to complain. Unless someone saw them. Thankfully all of those 'someones' were upstairs... So no one could see them. Except for maybe Leader, but he didn't count since he could probably see ievery/ithing going on in the house... Kind of creepy, really...

Somehow, that brought another thought to mind. Hopefully the brat didn't idrool/i, either. But who ididn't/i? Gaah...

His eyes widened slightly when his partner spoke again - and, if he had the capabilities to, he would've blushed. Instead, he paused for a moment in playing with the blond's hair before letting the oh-so small smile return, then continued playing with it seconds later. His fellow artist could be so... Uhm. Adorable? Well, in a kid-like way... Not like he'd admit to thinking so. "... Then I won't stop. You should get to sleep," he pointed out quietly. "Unless this is keeping you awake."

By now, Deidara was getting ever closer to shoving Sasori away and scream something along the lines of ⌠WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO SASORI?!■ His change in behaviour was somewhat disturbing. Although, he appreciated it. It was much better than still being in the bedroom, all alone and having trouble sleeping. And it wasn▓t as if he disliked the way the puppeteer was behaving. If anything, he preferred it, hoping this side of him would stay around for a little longer. He was a little worried when the hair stroking stopped for a second. Damn┘he shouldn▓t▓ve said anything and kept it to himself. The blond inwardly sighed in relief when he carried on. What was up with him today? Had the red head been schizophrenic or something and Deidara never realised it. There had been a few interesting mood swings during the past few days, hadn▓t there? ▒I will┘.eventually,▓ he yawned in reply. He blinked at the second statement. It was keeping him awake a little. It tickled! But it was also soothing. If the puppet did keep it up then the sculptor would eventually fall asleep. Screw the sleeping pills. ▒It▓s not really. It just feels nice, un,▓ he muttered into his partner▓s shoulder. He soon felt his eye lids begin to flutter shut again as he drifted off into a deep sleep, arms still wrapped around Sasori.

Luckily for the blond, Sasori was planning on behaving as he was for a little bit longer, indeed. At least until the next day... He was only acting as he was out of annoying, misplaced human feelings and pity. Might as well try to be nice for once, right? At least that's how he was justifying it to himself for the moment... Though he really did find that he didn't mind their current position all that much. He didn't know whether or not he should be worried about that.

Maybe after this he'd find a ibetter/i hiding place and stay away from everyone for a while. Try to kill off those pesky little feelings again before they got too in-the-way. Feelings only lead to disaster. How'd he let himself get so far? The red-head blinked slowly. Just a moment ago he was somewhat worried about his partner's comfort, and now he was planning on killing the feelings he had for Deidara. Yeah, he needed some alone time, if only to get things straightened out up there.

... Eventually, huh? The puppeteer snorted, free hand moving down to the book on the floor as he peered over the sculptor's shoulder at it. He opened it, flipping through the pages to where he had been before the brat had joined him in the basement. Well. If his playing with the blond's hair wasn't keeping said sculptor awake, then... Good. It kept that hand busy.

He listened for the brat's breathing as he read over the pages of the fairytale book, noting the eventual change from 'awake' to 'obviously asleep'. Finally... Now he had to wait until morning. Bah.

That night Deidara was pretty close to having a few nightmares, but somehow the plot seemed to change dramatically if it got too bad. There wasn▓t really the opportunity to wonder why that had happened seeing as he was asleep, but it managed to keep him asleep. He didn▓t fidget as much either. A few uneasy squeaks were heard every now and again but no comprehendible words this time around. His dreams failed to wake him up, but something on his foot did. The blond opened his eyes slowly and blinked a few times, vision adjusting. They widened slightly as he realised that Sasori was right there, only to then droop again, remembering that he was acting as his bed or something. Wow┘he▓d stayed there all night? He hadn▓t even bothered to take him back upstairs? Impressive. It seemed like he was making some progress. ▒Morning,▓ he yawned, moving slightly to have a look at whatever was on his foot. Aw┘a rat. Wait┘A RAT? ▒EW!▓ he cried, letting go of the red head, picking up the creature and chucking it half way across the room. Hopefully that had given the poor animal a message along the lines of ⌠Don▓ try and do anything to Deidara▓s foot ever EVER again.■ The sculptor turned to look at his partner again, giggling uneasily. ▒You stayed here, un?▓

Sasori had been expecting an irritating night of - well... Everything completely opposite of how it went. Other than an annoying little squeak here-and-there interrupting his reading or thoughts, it was fine. And Deidara didn't move much. Which was, of course, a plus, as it would've been very damn irritating...

The puppeteer was just in the middle of reading 'Thumbellina' when he noted the obvious shift in his partner's breathing, as usual. He only grunted at the single word followed by the yawn, too entranced in what he was reading to actually respond. He ionly/i tore his eyes and mind away from the book at the exclaimation of 'EW!', red eyes wide and staring as he watched the sculptor let go, pick up a rat, and chuck it half-way across the room. The red-head stared for a moment more before rolling his eyes. It was just a friggin' rat... Not like it was rabid or something. An evil little grin made an appearance on the puppet's face...

And even if it ihad/i been rabid, and ihad/i bitten the blond, he ihad/i the cure for that. Seven needles, wasn't it? Or twenty? Nothing a little reading couldn't reveal, but anyway.

He hid his grin behind his usual apathy when his partner turned back to look at him. Wouldn't do to allow hints at his somewhat sadistic little thoughts. And... Ha, what a dumb question... "Obviously." As sort-of proof of his having stayed there, to show he wasn't some sort of hallucination or other ridiculous thing, he reached up and pinched the blond's upper arm. "See?"

It was pretty lucky for the rat that Deidara had only just woken up. If it had decided to start nibbling on his foot whilst he was wide awake it probably would▓ve been thrown repeatedly at the wall. And if it just so happened to still be alive after that then it would probably be picked up by the tail and shoved under something very very heavy. He had by now proceeded to examine his foot. Hm┘just a few teeth marks. It didn▓t look like the animal had been given enough time to break through the blond▓s skin. Hopefully that thing hadn▓t been carrying any diseases and passed them onto him. Although, Sasori would surely have some cures for that. Well┘hopefully. He giggled, shuffling back over to the puppet, sitting on his lap again and re-adopting the previous clasping position. ▒Thank you, un,▓ he giggled. He watched as the prosthetic hand moved up to pinch his arm. For a second he sat there, wondering what the hell he was doing. But then came the word ⌠see?■ and he grinned, nodding. Good! It looked like the red head was still in that good mood. The sculptor turned slightly to look at the book on the floor. He giggled. ▒You▓re still not finished?▓ he asked, jokingly. He was going to add a comment like ⌠You▓re a slow reader!■ but something like that might cause the good mood to suddenly disappear. Something he certainly didn▓t want. He was enjoying this side of Sasori.

Luckily, that rat hadn't been a certain Jashinist-annoying rodent. Fuckwad was off in one dank, dark corner of the basement, munching merrily on a dead - but not yet dried - beetle. It had watched it's possible relative get flung half-way across the room with uncaring, beady, expressionless eyes. Tsk! Oh, well. At least iit/i hadn't been stupid enough to annoy non-decapitated humans.

... Anyway.

Sasori rose a brow. What the hell was Deidara thanking him for? Staying? Pah. It wasn't like he could've went anywhere. Their position - which, to the puppeteer's islight/ik agitation, the blond had re-taken, though he wasn't going to protest - had been such that, well... If he ihad/i wanted to leave, he probably would've wound up waking the brat. He hadn't quite wanted to do that, nor had he had anything particularly interesting he needed or wanted to do. He had planned to stay down there for a long time, anyway...

... Well, enough musing on it. The red-head snorted - though it sounded almost like a chuckle - when his partner grinned and nodded to his one-word question. Either he got what the puppet was trying to point out, or... Something else, but whatever. It was a positive reaction. Damnit, he was thinking too much this morning.

He half-heartedly shrugged at the inquiry about the book. Ah - thankfully, the page he had stopped on had no naked people. He didn't know iwhy/i he didn't want the blond seeing such a thing... Maybe some sort of odd, twisted parental-like urges? ... Ha! Hell no! He just didn't want the brat thinking it was some sort of dirty book or something. "No. I try to understand the underlying moral behind each tale before I move on. It takes time." Or, rather, he liked looking over every detail of the illustrations as he read, looking for inspiration for his puppets. But what he had said made him sound less childish, so... Yeah. He'd stick with that. "Did the rat bite you?" Topic change. He didn't quite like talking about the book.

For crying out loud, he was an S-class criminal; a supposedly emotionless puppet, and he was reading ifairytales/i. Of course he didn't want to talk about the book. At all. Even jokingly. Incase someone overheard or something, which wasn't likely given their location, but whatever.

Well┘that was a clear as mud. Deidara stared down at the book, blinking a couple of times, trying to take in what Sasori had just said. But of course, that didn▓t work. He was blond, what do you expect? He found the illustrations somewhat disturbing. It took a couple of seconds for it to click in his mind what story his partner had been reading beforehand. He didn▓t even bother reading the words on the page. Since he had only just woken up, his brain hadn▓t been kicked into gear yet. ▒But it▓s a kid book! Does it use long words and stuff?▓ he asked, leaning down slightly, letting his eyes skim over the page. His page skimming was brought to a halt when the red head questioned the blond about the rat. He shrugged, lifting up his foot again. ▒Nah, it just chewed me▓, he muttered, running his thumb over the sole of his foot where he had been nibbled. ▒It can▓t be as bad as the stuff I got on my┘▓ He froze, bring his hand up to his widening eyes. He turned it over, examining it completely. ▒Oh┘my┘God,▓ he whispered. His whole hand had changed colour completely. It was now almost the same shade as the regulation purple nail polish he wore. Not only that. It had swelled up slightly. Not as much as his other hand though. Now that he was thinking about it, maybe it would▓ve been a good idea to have taken the antidote earlier. Just the idea of having a needle stuck in him had put him off taking it, but he hadn▓t thought about what might▓ve happened if he left his hand the way it was. ▒Uhm┘Danna┘I think I might need that antidote stuff now, un,▓ he stated, staring down at his two purple hands, tongues sticking out.

The puppeteer glanced up at the cieling during the blond's book-staring pause, frowning slightly. Ah, someone else was up, too - the floor creaked quietly. That, or the house was just settling. Whatever, as long as they didn't have business in the basement, Sasori couldn't care less if he tried.

He rolled his eyes and glanced at Deidara. If he knew it was a ikid's/i book, why the hell was he asking if it had ilong/i words? Kids couldn't understand something intelligent. "No, most of the words are kid friendly. But the morals behind them sometimes aren't." Morals, morals. Did he even iknow/i any of the ones behind some of those tales? ... Nah, probably not, but he doubted the blond would notice or anything. He was iblond/i and all.

Ah. The rat just chewed him. The puppet could say iso/i many things to that, most of them comparing the blond and a block of cheese... What kind of cheese would the sculptor be? ... What the ihell/i? No, really. What the hell? The red-head's eyes widened as well when he caught sight of his partner's so very... Colourful - okay, just dark purple, but still - hands. Well... Okay. That obviously wasn't normal. He inwardly cringed - ah, the belladonna. Hand mouths. Right... His eyes went back to being half-lidded, though they seemed just mildly amused as the situation. This meant he was going to get to poke the little brat with needles! Or ia/i needle. And he was going to make sure it was a big, scary needle, indeed.

Oh, why the hell not just try to scare the heck out of his fellow artist beforehand, too? "Yes, you definately need the antidote. The poison I was using normally causes the hands to rot off." Or not. But hey, it wasn't like the blond knew otherwise, right? "Get up. We're going to have to go back to our room - unless you brought a needle with you. You have the antidote with you, though, right?"

Deidara▓s features creased up slightly. ▒That▓s stupid,▓ he stated. Why weren▓t the morals just one liners with simple words┘hm┘he decided not to worry about the book anymore. What had possessed Sasori to start reading the damn thing in the first place was something he didn▓t particularly want to find out. He was far too preoccupied by the condition of his poor hands. What if it was some scary allergic reaction or something? What if they had to be amputated? His hands were important. They were the key to his main┘well┘only method of fighting. Without them...he wouldn▓t be able to make any more clay sculptures. Come to think of it┘without his hands, he would be significantly handicapped. No more writing, no more picking things up, no more opening doors. All the day to day stuff he usually took for granted would just disappear. ▒Rot my hands off?▓ he asked, his eyes wide with fear. ▒But I need my hands! What kind of twisted poison rots hands off?▓ The blond reached over for the dusty jar of belladonna antidote and picked it up. What an odd sensation. He couldn▓t feel it. Had his hands gone completely numb from the poison? Now he knew how the red head felt all the time. Or didn▓t feel┘bleh whatever. He hand no sense of touch. That was one of the many reasons why he didn▓t particularly want to lose his hands. Needle or no needle. He stood up, obediently, clasping the jar tightly, despite the fact that he was unable to feel it. Something like that might cause it to slip from his grip. That would be disastrous if it did happen. He failed to hear the second thing his partner had said. His vision was gradually deteriorating. In response he shut his eyes, holding his face in his hand. ▒Danna┘t-take it,▓ he stuttered holding the jar out to the puppet. ▒I feel dizzy.▓

How the hell was it stupid? One had to be smart to be able to put a possibly adult moral in a tale meant for kids! Or else it would end up as... A rather explicit story inot/i meant for children. Which would ruin the whole damn idea of it being for kids, and... Oh, screw it. He wasn't even going to try to explain it - not to the blond, and not to himself, since he already knew what he was trying to... Think, anyway.

He tried to look as serious as he possibly could when Deidara bought into the little lie. Ha! ... Well, there were poisons that made certain parts of the body decay... But, anyway, belladonna poison didn't. Thankfully. He didn't want to be stuck with a handless brat or anything, afterall. "Well, if you don't get the antidote soon, that's the kind of twisted poison that rots hands off." Sasori watched the blond pick up the antidote, morbidly finding the discolouration of his hands amusing. Though he knew it was wrong to... But... They looked funny! Really.

The puppet stood immediately after his partner did, ready to trek up the stairs, though he hesitated when he noticed the sculptor shut his eyes and move a hand to his face. Oh, well, this couldn't be good. Stuttering? Dizziness? ... Dizziness? Loss of balance was one of the effects of the poison... He nodded, taking the held out jar. Apparently this was either an allergic reaction or the poison had a delyaed effect - either of which wasn't very good. At all. "Do you think you'll be able to make it up to the room without falling?" They had to go up two flights of stairs, afterall. While it would be irritating to have to carry the blond, it would be even moreso irritating to have said blond break his friggin' neck. Plus movement would cause the poison to spread - though that didn't matter much, since it had the whole night. Unless it just reached the brat's bloodstream or something.

That thought in mind, he frowned. That wouldn't make sense, though... Then again, he wasn't really well versed on his partner's inner anatomy, what with those mouths. Hn. "Nevermind. Maybe it would be better if you waited here... Or I could carry you."

And that was the exact reason why Deidara wanted to get upstairs as quickly as possible and get the antidote injected into him. The only problem was that his body wasn▓t behaving properly. Was that because of the poison? Probably. He could just be tired, although he had never suffered from this sort of dizziness because of lack of sleep before. He still wasn▓t too sure how long he▓d been asleep. He hadn▓t taken note of what time it had been before he went downstairs to find Sasori and there was apparently no clock in the basement. Main reason for that was because there was little need for a clock there. It was usually empty, save for the rats. Blue eyes opened, hoping that maybe it had passed. They closed less than a second later. The floor was spinning. Not good. Urgh, he was sure he could feel himself wobbling a little. What the hell had the puppeteer been planning on giving him? Well┘it wasn▓t as if the blond had heard of it, was it? The only poison he▓d heard of was cyanide. He reached out with his free arm for the wall, using it for balance as he carried on moving towards the door. ▒No┘I think I▓ll be fine...u-un,▓ he replied, voice shaking. He wasn▓t exactly sure if he would be able to make it back upstairs safely, but it would speed the process up slightly thanks to fewer discussions on whether or not he could walk. But it would certainly help if the red head would take the jar. The sculptor would then have two hands to use as support instead of one. He turned his head slightly to look at his partner. ▒B-But if I waited it would take longer!▓ he pointed out, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Hmm┘might as well add something else to make the answer seem more comprehendible. ▒Can you c-carry me, un?▓ It would be easier┘and quicker. Much quicker than walking upstairs by himself. Well┘Deidara was bigger than Sasori and possibly heavier. Ah, whatever, he▓d already answered his question, right?

Yep. The blond was wobbling a bit. The red-head's frown deepened, brow furrowing in mild concern for his partner. Okay, maybe he should have rethought his choice of poisons - or at least dosages - last night... Though that would've been difficult given that he had been unable to see the measurements on the side of the needle iand/i he didn't know Deidara's exact bodyweight, which would be needed for the calculation. Plus, it had been spontaneous. Calculating the exact dosage hadn't occured to him... Too late inow/i, though. Belladonna - also called deadly nightshade - could be fatal, but... One, it wasn't instant. Thankfully. Two, there was no way he was letting the blond know that. There was also no way he was letting the poison get that far.

Sasori watched as the brat, with the help of the wall, moved towards the door, staring skeptically at his shakey reply. Aha, 'fine'. iSure/i. The puppet followed closely behind, incase the sculptor fell, so he'd be able to catch him.

All right, so he had a little bit of a medic in him. A ilittle/i bit. He made antidotes, didn't he? For emergencies and accidents... Unpleasant antidotes, but they did their thing, and he knew how to use them. Speaking iof/i, the proper way to inject ithis/i particular antidote called for pumping the stomach of the poisons before... But... Yeah. He wasn't exactly sure if that counted in this case.

The puppeteer cocked his head to the side when the blond pointed out that if he waited it would take longer. Well, duh. But waiting would mean... Ah, screw it. "Mhm." Carrying would be the best option. Sure, the blond was bigger. But it was doubtful he was heavier, given that the red-head had a friggin' metal coil replacing his innards, and that thing idefinately/i wasn't light. Not to mental all the other pretty, sharp metal add-ons hidden inside various places. And the wings. Plus it wasn't like the puppet was weak or anything... It was all a matter of 'is it heavy enough to make my limbs fall off'.

Well, they'd be finding out if the blond was that heavy.

Moving forward quickly, he stooped to hook one arm behind his partner's knees, leaving the other to support his back - bridal style, in other words. All right, sure, awkward as hell, but that didn't matter right then, did it? And the brat wasn't the heaviest thing he'd ever had to carry. Hiruko was just as, if not more, weighty. He went the rest of the way to the door and stopped, rolling his eyes. Right, couldn't open it. He had both hands occupied. "Can you open the door?" ... Surely he'd be able to do that?

For a second, Deidara was beginning to wonder if Sasori was going to go ahead with just making him wait in the basement while he went upstairs to get a needle. Thinking along those sort of lines didn▓t really help the condition his mind was in at the moment in time. What if he collapsed or something before the puppet returned. That couldn▓t be good news could it? There was also that little worry of his weight. What if he was too heavy for him to carry up two flights of stairs? It hadn▓t occurred to him at the time that the puppet, indeed was lot heavier than he looked. He was prosthetic with lots of goodies replacing his internal organs. The sculptor was flesh and bone with his internal organs still inside him. He let out a surprised squeak as the red head lifted him up and off the ground, bridal style, blood rapidly flowing to his cheeks. If anything, he had been expecting a piggyback┘although that scroll holder thing on his back wouldn▓t exactly make the ride very comfortable would it? He instinctively wrapped his good arm around the puppet▓s neck in hope of clinging on if he just so happened to be dropped along the way. He was the larger of the two after all. Meanwhile, his bad arm cradled the jar of belladonna antidote. This of course would need to be watched every now and again in case it rolled off his stomach and onto the floor., smashing into lots of little pieces, the liquid being spilled all over the place. Although it didn▓t exactly help that his vision was deteriorating at a an exceedingly fast pace and the room seemed to be spinning faster and faster as every second passed. Urgh, Sasori better hurry up taking him upstairs. He lifted his head when his partner requested him to open the door. Wait, why couldn▓t he┘oh, yeah. ▒Un,▓ he mumbled. Carefully, the blond uncoiled the living puppet▓s neck to move the jar and wedge it between his thighs. He would need two hands for this. Once that was done, he reached forward, ⌠good■ hand on the door handle, ⌠bad■ on the door itself. He pushed down on the door handle and with both hands, opened the door. He then moved his ⌠good■ arm back to Sasori▓s neck, eyes tightly shut. Seeing the room spinning was beginning to give him a headache. Urgh, he then remembered he▓d need to take his antibiotics later on. Unless the antidote meant he wouldn▓t be able to.

Not only would the scroll holder thing make a piggyback ride uncomfortable, but the blade-wings would probably do much more damage than the poison. Thus bridal-style was pretty much the first and only way to carry the blond that popped into the red-head's head. Plus the surprised squeak and blush had been worth it, damnit! ... Now, hopefully no one would see them on their way on up. Even if someone did, though, it wasn't like it looked and could easily be explained away later.

Anyway. Sasori quietly watched and waited as Deidara opened the door before moving his 'good' arm back around his neck. If he didn't know it was for stability purposes, the puppet would probably ask he keep his hands in his lap - but, without further time wasting, he quickly started up the stairs. While being careful inot/i to hit the doorway or the stairwell wall with the blond's head or legs. Which, while it would be undoubtedly amusing to some sadistic extent, would probably get the brat on his case, later.

Ah, well. Upon reaching the top, the puppeteer paused to peer around and make sure no one was around - there were voices coming from the kitchen. Sounded like Zetsu, Zetsu, and Hidan... Ech. Hidan. Thankfully, it sounded like the two... Three, were busy. So...

As quickly as he could with an armful of poisoned sculptor, the red-head bolted for the stairs. He had made it half-way before the Jashinist peered out from the kitchen doorway.

Hidan blinked once. Then twice. Slowly. Before snickering at the sight, and, without thinking - as it would surely wake most of the sleeping organization, if not all of them, up - yelled, "I KNEW IT! FUCKING FAIRIES!"

... The puppet vowed to make the immortal into a human jigsaw puzzle later on that day. But that would come ilater/i. First, he had to give the blond the antidote and make sure all was fine and dandy. Upon reached the top of the second flight, he slowed to a brisk walk towards their room. Well. If someone didn't isee/i them, they're surely get a detailed and over-exagerrated description from that religious idiot. So, why hurry? They still had time.

Because Deidara▓s eyes had been shut at that moment in time, he had little chance to move his feet and head out of the way of the doorway. It only occurred to him that he▓d just missed it when he felt one toe brush against the wooden doorframe. Although, he didn▓t open his eyes. That would mean having to see the room spinning again. ▒D-danna,▓ he whimpered into Sasori▓s ear. ▒I▓m really s-cared.▓ What if the poison was too far gone and even the antidote wouldn▓t help? What if the antidote was just as bad as the poison? Or worse! What if he had to be operated on? What if he had to be bedridden for days┘weeks┘YEARS? Urgh, It couldn▓t be that bad, could it? ▒I▓m gunna b-be okay, a-aren▓t I, u-un?▓ Okay, sure he▓d been told that the poison only rotted off his hands, but his mind was wandering and he was panicking. Though his hearing had been slightly corrupted, he heard voices coming from the kitchen. But he was unable to identify who they belonged to. Urgh, this sucked. The blond was beginning to feel sorry for those people who suffer from these sort of things every single day. As they got closer to the kitchen he began to recognise the voices. Ah, great┘Hidan┘exactly the person they needed. Why hadn▓t it been a piggy back? Screw the fact that it would be uncomfortable. Hn┘suppose it was just a bit too late to complain now. And apparently (or was it unfortunately?) everyone▓s favourite Jashinist had seen the pair of artists on their trek upstairs. How annoying. Obviously an understatement from the sculptor▓s point of view. He twitched at the┘rather loud comment that Hidan just happened to yell out. If Deidara had been feeling up to it, he surely would▓ve made some immature comeback, as usual. Ah, screw that. ▒How m-mature of you, Hidan,▓ he mocked as the puppeteer took him upstairs.

The whimpered words cause Sasori to 'feel' a twinge of... Something... Possibly a similar sense of fear? That was silly. He icouldn't/i feel fear. And that was a lie - he ihad/i; a day or so ago during their little trip to the village. "You're going to be fine, Deidara. Don't be scared." Fright would only increase the blond's heart rate, as well as the rate of which the poison got around. Which was also why he had only posed two choices; wait or be carried. Either involved less movement on the brat's part, and less movement meant a slower heart rate, and so on.

Though, despite the situation, he found himself grinning slightly at the blond's rebuttal to Hidan's obnoxiously loud remark. Ha, mature... His partner seemed moreso than normal at the moment. Though given the circumstances... It wasn't all that surprising, really.

The Jashinist merely made a rude gesture at the two before heading back into the kitchen. Yeah, he was iso/i telling everyone what he just saw in so very iincorrect/i detail. Seriously. He was a jerk like that... And he was damn proud of his jerkiness.

Finally reaching the top of the second flight of stairs, the puppeteer headed immediately towards their room - passing a disgruntled, murderous-looking Kakuzu in the process. The ex-Taki 'nin was muttering something about the other immortal, barbeques, kabob sticks and cannibals, and thankfully didn't seem to take any notice of the artistic pair.

Once he reached their room's door, he paused, stared, then inwardly sighed in relief. It had been left open slightly - the puppet simply turned around and walked into it backwards, pushing it open enough to slip in, again careful about the blond incase he whacked him into something. Immediately, once in the room, he gently deposited the blond on the proper bed and headed directly for the closet. Now to find a needle. He'd skip the stomach-pumping - he wasn't exactly sure on how to do that, anyway - unless it was really needed. Though, then, he'd probably drag the brat off to the hospital in the village, instead.

Sasori▓s words seemed to be somewhat reassuring and calming for Deidara. He was right. He was going to be just fine once all this was over. His arm that was around the puppet▓s neck tightened its grip, almost to repeat the events of the night before. Hm┘actually┘Sasori might not like having his head pulled off again┘well┘it wasn▓t as if it had been pulled off. More like, pulled off and then a pillow pushed it off. But whatever. ▒Okay, u-un,▓ he mumbled. He was still a little unsure about the whole situation, although he▓d been a lot more unsure beforehand. It then occurred to him that they were finally upstairs. Ah, not long now. Although, he was quite enjoying being carried by his oh, so lovely partner. It would be quite a while until he would be in such a position as this, if not it would probably never happen again. His thoughts were interrupted by a voice coming from the other direction. Hm┘if his ears weren▓t deceiving him that was Kakuzu. He didn▓t open his eyes to verify it. If anything he wished he had a blindfold or something to prevent himself from opening them out of curiosity. Maybe he had one lurking around in his bedside cabinet. He▓d have to look into that once they were in the room. Once on the bed, the sculptor scooted back, feeling around for the bedside cabinet. No┘no┘ow! In his searching he managed to whack his hand against the lamp. He moved his hand downwards and pulled on one of the cabinet handles, opening the top drawer, feeling around for something he could use as a blindfold. Hm┘something squishy┘something wet┘aha! He pulled out, what he figured out to be one of his many hair ribbons and wrapped it around his head so that it covered his eyes. Ah┘that was better. ▒Will the needle hurt, un?▓

Once again, the puppeteer found himself scrounging around in his little closet of not-so-nice things. He was glad to have Deidara out of his arms - well... Sort of. If only because the position of a certain limb reminded him of an even more certain event that he was iso/i not going to think about because it would probably lead to him forming a bit of a grudge and leaving the blond to suffer for a while. Anyway. iNeedles/i!

iThere/i! He picked up the little pack, pulling one of the damn things out and momentarily checking it for flaws - which was difficult. Sure, there was light coming in from the still-open door, but he had forgotten to switch on the light. Neh, it didn't look like the needle had any cracks or anything in it, anyway... Now he just needed to fill it with the antidote and inject it into---

Sasori blinked slowly, turning slightly to peer at his partner rather skeptically. Will it hurt? Will it ihurt/i? It was a friggin' pointy, sharp little thing that broke the skin and forced liquid into a person's bloodstream. Of icourse/i it hurt! "No, it won't hurt." An obvious lie if he'd ever told one, but what the hell. If he was going to ask stupid questions, even if he iwas/i poisoned, he was going to receive an equally stupid answer. Luckily for the blond, it wasn't the sort of antidote that needed to be injected into the neck or... Other more isensitive/i places.

And why did he have a ribbon tied over his eyes...? Eh, whatever the reason, it would probably make it that much easier to stick the damned needle into the blond. Since he wouldn't be able to see it and all. The puppet made his way over to the side of his partner's bed, pausing there before he 'hn'ed quietly. "Now, don't squirm or anything, and... Where'd you put the antidote?" He didn't want to inject air into the blond, afterall, and said blond had had the antidote on their way up. So it was logical that he'd know where he put it, right?

So Deidara sat there, waiting to have the needle stuck in him. Sure, he was dreading it but the quicker this was all over the better. And the less pain the better too. And apparently it wouldn▓t hurt. He hadn▓t had a needle stuck in him for a few years. The last time had been a trip to the dentist▓s during his early childhood. Even that experience hadn▓t been particularly pleasant. It had taken a few times to keep him from leaping out of the seat and running out of the room. In the end he had been blindfolded. It helped. Being unable to see what was going to happen would stop him from trying to avoid it. Until it happened at least. But surely, whilst he was in this dizzy, light-headed state reflexes could be slowed down slightly. He carried on waiting until he heard Sasori approach and warn him not to move┘well...there was a simple way to stop him from moving. Or ways. Hw could paralyse him, tie him down or just restrain him. ▒I▓ll try not to┘un,▓ he mumbled, turning his head to where he assumed his partner was. Oh┘right┘antidote. It must be on the bed right? It probably slipped from between his legs when he moved back to open the top drawer of his bedside cabinet. That, or it dropped on the floor on the way upstairs, which was highly unlikely. Both, if not one of the two artists had to have heard it smash or something. The blond began moving his hands around the duvet, blindly looking around for the jar. Aha! There it was. He picked it up, lifting the ribbon off his eyes slightly to check. Yep, that was it. He held it out to the red head, moving the ribbon over his eyes again. ▒Where▓re you gunna put the needle? On my arm?▓

The puppeteer soemwhat amusedly watched the blond search blindly for the bottle. Until he found it, anyway. Sasori plucked it out of Deidara's hand once it was held out, double-checking to make sure that it was indeed the right bottle. Which, of course, it was. "Where?" He uncapped it, stuck the needle into the liquid and nudged the plunger back unti the syringe was full. "That's a surprise." He re-capped the bottle, placing it on the bedside cabinet and moving the needle up infront of his face to check for air bubbles. Eh.

Either way, he did the customary air-squirt just to make sure it was bubble-free before looking back to his partner. To alcohol swab or not to alcohol swab... Nah, that would mean having to find them... He never understood their importance, anyway. To avoid infection, sure, but how bad could a pinprick get infected, anyway? "Now, on the count of three, I'll inject the antidote." ... Just like last time, right? There iwas/i no three! Full, complete countdowns were for wimps. But, anyway...

"But make damn sure not to move, brat..." He had picked an injection site - the shoulder facing him. "Or you might break the needle off into your arm or wind up with a large cut. You wouldn't want that, would you?" The puppet reached over with his free hand to move the sleeve of his shirt up a bit so he could easily access his chosen site. "All right..." Smirking slightly, he moved the needle close enough to the blond's skin so that it was merely a milimetre away. "One..." ... Twothree! Mind, the last two numbers were counted down imentally/i and rather quickly. Not even a second passed after he'd said 'one' before the needle was stuck into the blond, thumb moving the plunger down and slowly pushing in the cure.

Waiting waiting┘.urgh, it was so hard. Why couldn▓t this whole injecting malarkey be over with already? Maybe not beign able to see what was going on had its downsides after all. Deidara nodded as Sasori answered his question with another question. How annoying┘Why wouldn▓t he tell him┘oh┘right┘a surprise. Yeah, good idea. It would prevent him from moving and squirming as much. But it would also come as a complete shock so there▓d be more of a chance for a reflex action to take place┘then again┘the poison probably slowed the reaction time right down anyway. Count of three. Okay. He took in a deep breath and gripped onto the blanket tightly. Maybe if something was in his mouth it might help. Ah, whatever. It▓d be all over in less than a second. Well┘after it had been injected and all. He bit his lip when the puppet used his pet name again. Unlike the time the night before, the name stung and the blond almost found himself turning to shout at his partner for using it again after what had happened with the whole pulling-Sasori▓s-head-off thing. Urgh, the consequences certainly made him not want to move. A large cut or having the needle sticking out of his skin couldn▓t be at all pleasant could it? Alright┘.no moving. That▓s all there was too it┘and if the urge to move were to arise┘he▓d have to just fight it. Easier said than done. ▒No┘un,▓ he replied, shaking his head slightly. Argh, no moving! His stomach lurched when the red head lifted his sleeve up slightly. Come on! Take it like a man! After ⌠one■ was heard, the sculptor took a deep breath and scrunched his eyes up tightly. But they widened as the needle plunged into him a lot sooner than anticipated. He gripped onto the bed quilt tightly with both hands, biting his bottom lip. Urgh, no he remembered. It was like a bit fat bee had just decided to come over and stab him. Delightful. ▒Meanie┘un.▓

After the jab, Sasori chuckled when he noticed the blond's tightened grip on the blanket. Ah, such a wimp! Then again, he puppet couldn't feel pain, so who was he to say anything? Oh, well. He rose a brow at being called 'meanie'. "You should know by now I'm not nice," he pointed out, pulling the needle back out of Deidara once the antidote was gone. After watching a little bead of blood well up where the needle had been, the red-head nodded to himself. "There... Be prepared for some side-effects." He moved away from the bed, moving over to place the needle somewhere on a shelf at his workstation so he could pick it up and dispose of it later.

Once he had both hands free, the decided it would be oh-so fun to count off all the mentioned side-effects on his fingers. "Some of them you might experience are burning as the antidote travels through your system, headache, nausea, dizziness, extreme thirst, and nightmares, maybe mild hallucinations..." Pausing, he peered back over at his partner. "There's also the chance you might not have any. Luckily the more serious ones tend to occur in small children..." And animals. But they didn't count. The red-head was silent for a moment before he tapped his chin in thought.

He icould/i always see if the blond just wanted to take something that would make him sleep throughout the antidote's effects... But in the case that something serious idid/i occur, it wouldn't be wise for the brat to be asleep. It was easier to keep someone from certain doom if they were awake and able to point out what was wrong. Though he really, ireally/i didn't think anything that bad would happen. "Unfourtunately, painkillers won't help the burning sensation. It shouldn't be too bad, though." But what would he know? It wasn't like he tested it out on himself, right? Not like he icould/i...

Heh. He loved to ramble on about his poisons and antidotes and their effects and whatever, didn't he? Almost as much as he liked to argue his views on art and how puppets were superior to exploding clay ithings/i... But... Right, that was a totally different subject. "Any questions...?"

Yeah, okay. The puppeteer was correct about that. But he did have his moments of kindness. Heck, if he was some heartless brute he probably wouldn▓t have let Deidara sleep whilst sitting on his lap and hugging him all through the night. Maybe he was in a good mood or something. Hm┘why was he so confusing all the time? Side effects? Like┘bad and unpleasant ones? Ooh, goodie. He really should▓ve asked about all that before the antidote had been injected. Meh, too late now. So he sat there, listening, cringing as every side effect was listing. What sort of antidote was that? If anything it made him worse. Burning┘okay, he might be able to deal with that thanks to those fantastic painkillers the red head had him use after he had ⌠fixed■ his arm. Headache┘again┘painkillers. Nausea┘sleep perhaps? Or he could just grin and bare it. It wasn▓t as bad as the burning. Dizziness? HA! He was already seeing nine of everything. Hoe much more dizzy could he get? Extreme thirst┘drinking lots? That was simple enough. Nightmares┘don▓t sleep. Luckily it was morning and he wasn▓t exactly tired after using Sasori as a pillow. Hallucinations. Ah, they▓d be okay. He could cope with them. And hopefully he wouldn▓t get any of them. And apparently it was worse if the blond was a small child. Even better! He was neither small or a child. Well┘probably to his partner, but whatever. He was about to ask for the painkillers when he was silenced by his hope being crumbled. Fuck┘well, that was just brilliant. Hopefully it wouldn▓t be that bad if he even got it. Questions questions. The sculptor had many he wanted to ask the puppet. The majority of which were completely unrelated to the side-effects of the belladonna antidote. Although, he was guessing that he wasn▓t really fishing for those sort of questions┘they▓d come later. ▒How long will it last for, un?▓ he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

While he was waiting for the blond to speak, Sasori busied himself slightly by crouching at his workstation and organizing the things he'd need for the fairy-themed puppet that was probably never going to get finished. When the question idid/i reach his ears, however, he paused, pondering... How long would it last for, indeed! ... Again, he hadn't done any calculations, and he wasn't all too versed on anything dealing with Deidara's body, so he was clueless. Though he didn't want to sound like he didn't know.

"It depends on your metabolism rate," he answered after a short moment of thought. Well, it idid/i. "As well as whether or not I used the correct amount to counteract the poison." That, too. He didn't have a clue how much of the stuff had gotten into the blond last night, and had no way iof/i knowing. So he had no way of knowing how much of the antidote to inject - so to be on the safe side, he used as much as he dared to. "And your own body's reaction to the antidote." Everyone reacted in different ways to different chemicals - basic knowledge. And, the cure was based off of the poison, so if it ihad/i been some sort of allerigc reaction, his partner was... Well. Probably fucked.

Though he really doubted that that had been allergies. Allergies tended to be fast reactions - that wouldn't happened minutes after the poison entered him, wouldn't it? ... Again, he wasn't sure. Ugh! This was almost making him want to idissect/i the brat so he could find out what's what and all that! Though he'd have to settle for studying it. While alive. If he could do so without coming off as just plain fucking icreepy/i. After all, Leader would surely have something to say if he were to cut the blond open and all that. iPlus/i there was the little, annoying fact that he 'felt' he wouldn't be able to, iany/iway. And not just because of resistance on his partner's part.

Hmm... Almost thoughtfully, he tinkered around with a small peice of wood that would probably serve for part of a limb joint later on or something. "To avoid other incidents like this," he began slowly, choosing his words in a way he hoped wouldn't come off as positively odd, "I'll need to look you over. Closely. It will also allow me to find out helpful things for if you end up poisoned again." Whether it be by him or someone else.

Deidara sat there, trying his best to make sense of what the hell was coming out of Sasori▓s mouth. But to no prevail. Even if he had been speaking in Dutch and it would probably make more sense. Metabolism┘well┘he didn▓t know that either. It wasn▓t really something he was concerned or interested in. Were people meant to know their metabolism rates? Well┘he didn▓t┘hm┘ He didn▓t know if he used the right amount of antidote? How stupid! He was the big poison dude so wasn▓t the red head meant to know what he was doing. Urgh, he knew he should▓ve just waited to all the poison to go away. Even though it never really occurred to him that poison didn▓t really work that way┘ Once he had finished, the blond just sighed. ▒So basically you don▓t know,▓ he muttered. ▒You could▓ve just said that, un! It would▓ve made much more sense.▓ Obviously the blond didn▓t see the same way that the puppet did, but whatever. Plus, ⌠I don▓t know■ would▓ve been a lot quicker. S▓pose he▓d just have to bare with it for however it was going to last. It couldn▓t last more than a few hours could it? He slowly moved the ribbon away from his eyes. Ah, the room wasn▓t spinning as much. Still spinning though. He moved backwards and lay down properly on the bed. He could sleep through it, but the sculptor wasn▓t the biggest fan of nightmares. And he got plenty of them. He didn▓t really want anymore thanks to some ⌠antidote.■ ▒Fuck┘▓ he muttered, sitting up and looking around the bed. ▒I left my birdy downstairs.▓ He pouted slightly. He▓d been so focused on getting upstairs and getting the antidote injected into him that he had completely forgotten his beloved plush toy. He lifted his head up to look over at┘well┘now four of his partner, squinting slightly. It helped slightly. Deidara wrinkled up his nose. What was he? Some science experiment like a mouse? A study specimen? ▒Or you could just stop poisoning me,▓ he muttered.

The puppeteer twitched when the blond pretty much just put what he had said in just a few smaller words. Yeah. Okay, so basically... But... He ihad/i been speaking in plain english. What he had said made a ilot/i of sense! ... He frowned, peering over his shoulder at Deidara. Then again, look who he was trying to explain it to... Sasori rolled his eyes, deciding not to comment, for the only thing he could think of to say to that was a comment about the blond's apparent lack of brains.

He looked back to his workstation, snatching a ruler from one side before spreading one of the metal sheets out on the floor to one side of him. How big should he make the wings...? How big would he ihave/i to make them for them to be able to carry an average adult human? ... iWhy/i was he making a fairy puppet again? Oh... Right. The brat had said something about Tinkerbell or whatever and he had actually thought it was a good idea, though he was starting to have his doubts. Speaking of the brat...

At the muttered curse, the puppet tilted his head. At what he guessed was the ireason/i for said curse, the faux-human snorted. It wouldn't be wise to let his partner go down two flights of stairs while still probably dizzy, and then there were the possible side-effects and whatnot that could kick in at whatever time. Tch, he was getting nowhere in his organizing, anyway... He stood, pausing, before grinning eerily and looking back over at the blond. "What if someone else poisons you? It would be easier to have the information beforehand, idiot." Especially if it was something particularly deadly and-or nasty and left little time to screw around.

Waving a dismissive hand in the air, he headed for the door. "I'll be back in a minute. Don't leave the room." Without waiting for a reply, a question, or anything on the sculptor's part, the red-head left the room on his way back to the basement. Bah... Hopefully that rat hadn't decided to take revenge or something.

Maybe it would be better to put the hair ribbon over his eyes again. The room was speeding up in it▓s spinning motion. Perhaps the only reason that it had slowed down was because he▓d had his eyes covered for a little bit. Ah, whatever. It was spinning faster now and that▓s it. He reached over and grabbed the hair silky red hair ribbon, pulling it out and placed it over his eyes, tying it in a neat bow at the back. If he was going to keep this up he might as well make it look presentable right? Even if he did look rather stupid with it. Maybe it would be a good idea to start his antibiotics after whatever side effects that were planning on occurring had gone away. That reminded him┘it was shopping day today. There was no way he was going to leave the house if he was in this condition. What if he just fainted in the middle of the street or something? Maybe the blond should make a little shopping list and give it to Sasori. He really needed good cereal and unfortunately he▓d forgotten to buy some at the village. Oh yeah┘that was quite a good point. If someone other than the red head did end up poisoning him, he wouldn▓t know what the dosage would be again. It couldn▓t be too unpleasant. He▓d probably just end up taking a few measurements of the sculptor every now and again. ▒Okay then.▓ Wait, what? ▒Where▓re you?┘▓ he began, before it clicked. Ohhh, he was going to go get the plushie, wasn▓t he? Well┘that was it sounded like. ▒I won▓t, don▓t worry, un.▓ That had been a pretty stupid thing to request. It wasn▓t as if he could move around freely at that moment in time, was it?

Though he'd been out of the room and earshot before the blond began to ask the question and confirmed that he wouldn't leave the room, he ihad/i heard the 'okay'. Good! So once he came back with that damnable little toy, he'd be able to 'play' doctor again! ... Just to be a little mean, he was going to make sure to include the more unpleasant little procedures during the whole thing...

The fact that it was shopping day had totally slipped Sasori's mind, even though he had a few items of his own he wanted to pick up. Umbrellas, and the sequel to The Ring. Maybe that Grudge movie, too... From the previews, some of those inky black ithings/i resembled Kakuzu's veiny tentacle... Things. The red-head grinned evilly to himself as he started down the first flight of stairs. The perfect movie - though he doubted Kakuzu was any sort of prankster... Oh well.

Once downstairs, another inevitable meeting with everyone's oh-so favourite Jashinist occured. Joy.

"That fast, huh? Holy shit," came the immortal's unmistakeable voice from over by the kitchen door way. The puppeteer gave him a bit of a warning look, raising his hand and wriggling a few fingers almost threateningly before turning off and heading down the basement steps. Ah, the look of distaste he earned from the bastard before he had taken his eyes from Hidan had been nearly ipriceless/i... Yes, he iso/i wanted to exact his revenge on the earlier episode iand/i the more recent comment, but... Pah. He'd do it once he rescued Deidara's plushie from the rats.

Though of course he'd then risk getting it bloodstained... But it would be well worth it! And he'd put it somewhere safe beforehand, anyway!

So Deidara just sat there patiently waiting for Sasori to return with what he hope, his beloved bird plushie. Even though he was beginning to need the toilet. Surely, he wasn▓t going to be that long with retrieving it. I wasn▓t like the basement was messy or anything. It would only take going downstairs, grabbing the toy and then going back upstairs. It couldn▓t take more than two minutes. Still, he sat there┘on his hands. It wasn▓t as if he could cause any more damage to them, was it? Urgh, what if they turned black or something? That couldn▓t be good┘at all. He▓d lose his only weapons┘All the red head▓s fault. Although, the sculptor couldn▓t really find it in him to blame his partner. He had been the one to empty the needle onto his own hands. He could▓ve just thrown it across the room without worrying about the mess that the poison would have had. But of course, he had been very tired. In an attempt to try and try and prevent wetting himself, he crossed his legs tightly. ▒Hurry up,▓ he growled, dragging out the second word. It also seemed that the side effects of the antidote were beginning to take place. His head was suddenly beginning to throb an awful lot. Urgh, this was gunna be one hell of a headache. He could just tell. Hm┘maybe painkillers could get rid of the headache┘but maybe not that weird feeling running through his veins. What was that? The blond sat still for a moment waiting. Urrrgh, that burning thing┘that▓s what it was. The side effect that had sounded the most unpleasant had just decided to occur. Lovely. Although, he was actually more worried about wetting the bed than setting on fire like that awful burning feeling was suggesting. Aright┘screw it. If the puppet hadn▓t returned in the next three minutes, Deidara was going to the bathroom┘even if it meant falling over a couple of times on the way.

There. Sasori entered the basement at a leisurely pace, switching on the light and peering around. Where was it--- oh, there! The puppeteer stepped over to the fallen plush, stooping down and plucking it off the floor while simultaniously eyeing one of the many rats in the basement. Ah... That was an idea...

Grinning as evilly as ever, the red-head caught the rat with a few chakra strings and held it still while he picked it up, too, before heading out of the basement. Of course, he was careful to close the door to avoid any imore/i rats coming up. Anyway. He quickly headed back up the basement steps, stopping at the top and peering about for a place to put the plushie so it would be out of harms way. Hmm... He strode over to the bookshelf, pushing several books back and shoving the toy in the resulting space - thankfully large enough for it to fit without a problem. Well, that problem was solved. Now, the immortal, annoying-as-hell problem.

He had isuch/i a nice way to shut him up for a while in mind, too!

The puppeteer went over to the kitchen, stopping in the doorway and grinning in a positively evil fashion when he noticed Hidan was still inside - it looked like he was too busy checking the fridge to notice him. Zetsu was still there, too, but the plantman was busy... Still talking to himself. He rose his rat-free hand, reaching out for the Jashinist with a few chakra strings that, out of nowhere, grabbed control of him. Well, 'out of nowhere' in the immortal's opinion.

"HEY! You fucking dumbass wooden dildo! Let me go!" Sure, he couldn't turn around to check, but who the hell else just randomly took control of him out of the blue?!

Grinning in an outright creepy fashion, the red-head wandered over to one of the drawers - one of the ones by the one containing the cutlery - and paused. Okay, it would be gross, but he'd wash after... It would be worth it to shut the bastard fanatic up for a while! Sticking the rat's tail in his mouth - cringing, though his couldn't feel or taste it - the puppet used his over now-free hand to open and scrounge around the drawer for... Ah. Tape! Perfect! It was duct tape, too!

He stepped over to the Jashinist, tape in hand, before making him turn around.

... Needless to say he was disgusted by what he saw. "Dude, seriously, that's fucking gross..."

iGlare/i. The puppeteer handed the tape to the annoying immortal, then the rat - and then... Even Zetsu started paying attention.

Much to the rat's displeasure, as well as the immortal's, Hidan was forced to shove the rat - thankfully it was a ismall/i one - into his mouth and immediately tape it shut afterwards. Though it was obvious he was trying to curse up a storm or even violently vomit during the process.

The puppeteer then took the tape from the religious fanatic and started binding his wrists together - then his arms to his body. And then he forcefully sat the idiot down at the kitchen table, duct-taping him to the chair. And ithen/i he released control, smirking triumphantly down at the furious evil preist. "Learn to shut up once in a while, idiot." Okay, so it hadn't been as bloody as he would've liked... But... It was satisfying, at least.

Watching the faux-human leave the kitchen, Zetsu rose a brow. "I think someone's 'lost it'. bIf he had it to begin with./b. True."

Step. Step. Pause┘Step. Step. Pause. Step. Step. Reach. No┘he was still a fair way away from the door. Okay┘step. Step. Pause. Step. Step. SLAM. ▒Owwww┘.▓ The blond grumbled, rubbing his already throbbing forehead. He really wasn▓t looking forward to having to sit through all this pain that that stupid antidote had brought about. Although┘it was going to get him all better┘so he might as well deal with it. He lifted the ribbon over his eyes slightly and made a note of where the door was. As he moved towards it he moved the ribbon back over his eyes. The dizziness was beginning to fade slightly, which was good, but seeing everything spinning wasn▓t really helping his headache. He pulled the door open and exited the room, keeping his back to the wall, lifting the ribbon up every now and again to check that he wasn▓t going to slide into anything sharp or pointy that would hurt if he struck. After the second time he lifted the ribbon up he groaned as he saw, what he assumed was the younger Uchiha. The raven approached, a somewhat amused look upon his face at the odd scene before him. ▒What the hell are you doing?▓ he asked, placing his hand against the wall in front of Deidara to stop him from moving any further forward. Deidara frowned at the younger, folding his arms at his rudeness. ▒I▓m going to the toilet, un,▓ he replied, shortly, trying to push past. Itachi▓s purple nailed fingers began peeling at the sculptor▓s ribbon┘mask┘thing. ▒What▓s with this then?▓ ▒The room▓s spinning and I▓ve got a headache,▓ he replied, slapping the other▓s hand away. ▒Excuse me.▓ He moved the younger▓s hand out of the way and carried on his merry way to the bathroom. ▒┘The bathroom▓s the other way, Deidara.▓ ▒┘.Shut up.▓

Now, where did he put that stupid plushie? Oh, right... The bookshelf. The red-head went over to it, pulling the toy out and almost causing several books to come along with it. Thankfully he had two hands. So to stop such a disaster from happening, he kept the books in place with his other - but, anyway...

Plush in one hand, nothing in the other, Sasori started over to the second flight of stairs. He was actually in a good mood, now... Heh... The first person to untape that idiot's mouth would get a hell of a surprise... too bad he couldn't find a small cat, though. It would've fit with that one saying.

As leisurely as ever, not really caring if he was making his partner wait or whatever - he hadn't specified where or why he was leaving the room, anyway, had he? For all Deidara knew, he could've been off just... Doing something other than getting the damn plush. Why had he gone and gotten it, anyway? Hadn't he said a little while ago that he iwasn't/i nice? ... Whatever. This wasn't niceness. Just something to keep the brat from whining or something. Yes, that was it.

He paused at the top of the stairs, he peered down one side of the hallway, brow raised when he noticed Deidara iout of the room/i, damnit, and that bratty - in a bad way - Uchiha. Right, he'd just tell the blond off when he got back to the room... iIf/i he made it back in one piece. That in mind, the puppet made his way to their shared room, slipping inside quickly and simply tossing the dumb plush onto his partner's bed. Now, what...? Ah! The chart... Right.

The walking was going pretty well. Deidara hadn▓t noticed Sasori coming upstairs or anything. Itachi had been blocking the way and also his view. As far as he was concerned the puppeteer was still downstairs retrieving the plushie┘and taking a very long time in doing so. Hm┘hopefully by the time he returned from the bathroom the room would still be empty, meaning he hadn▓t been missed and he wouldn▓t end up getting told off for leaving the room after being told not to. And thankfully the bathroom was empty. He entered and slowly closed the door behind him. To avoid treading or tripping over anything the blond had to pull the ribbon down so they weren▓t covering his eyes. Even though the room was still spinning there was more of a chance of him seeing anything decorating the floor without the damn thing blocking his vision. After thinking about it for a second maybe he should▓ve asked Itachi to escort him. That weasel owed him a lot. Even if the information he had leaked to the red head probably did draw them closer together. Or was that just because of his previous actions towards his partner? Bleh, whatever it had been to make him say what he had said the night before, he▓s still use it as an excuse to get things from Itachi. Although┘the Uchiha didn▓t exactly respect him enough to do that. Stupid little┘ Once the sculptor had finally finished he made his way back out of the bathroom on his treacherous journey back to his and the puppeteer▓s shared bedroom. How fun. Again, he stuck to the wall as if the floor had fallen away completely leaving a few centimetres to walk on. Well, it helped anyway. Once back in the room he pulled the ribbon down again. Ah, crap┘he was back. ▒Sorry, un!▓ he mumbled. ▒I had to go to the bathroom and I couldn▓t wait for you to come back.▓

In the time his partner was absent from the room, Sasori had busied himself with that damnable chart, taking the appropriate marker off the wall and pausing in thought. Right, so... Had Deidara been more good, or bad? Naughty or nice? Well, that little episode last night was a big negative. He mark it accordingly. Then, there was last night through to this morning. Up. And his absence when he told the brat not to leave. Down. He couldn't be bothered to think of anything else - he'd leave it at that.

So, he placed the marker back on the wall and simply stared at it for a moment. Heh. His 'score' was... Well, at least to him, highly amusing. Ups and downs. Drastic ones. But what did he care? The chart was stupid... Then iwhy/i did he decide to update his part of it?

...Meh. To keep the blond from whining about it. Yeah, that's why...

Speaking of said bratty blond... The puppeteer shifted his gaze over to the door as the sculptor entered, waiting silently for an explaination. Eh. The bathroom?

Okay, it was a legit reason to leave the room - at least, that's what his little human inner-voice pointed out. Though he still wanted to be mad at his partner, for whatever reason, and found himself glaring slightly at him, anyway. Though he didn't say anything. Everything that came to mind would make it sound like he cared about the blond's well-being. Admittedly he isort of/i did, and to isome/i, tiny, tiny extent it could been seen that he... Well, did, but... Whatever.

... Indeed. "Whatever." He turned his attention back to the stupid chart briefly, taking the marker back off the wall to make a small mark upwards to combat the previous one. Before, of course, putting the marker back in it's place and heading over to his bed. He paused there, pondering something for a moment before shrugging slightly and sitting cross-legged on the pointless piece of furniture. Hm... So, other than pretending not to take care of the blond, what else was there to do? He wasn't going to get any work done on the Ring girl puppet considering he didn't want the brat to know about his plans, and he'd sort of lost interest in the fairy puppet thing... Hm...


End file.
